The Glittering Masquerade
by aks100
Summary: Lily and James have to organise a christmas ball, only thing is it's a masked ball. Lily meets someone at the ball and gets to know the boy behind the mask...pre HBP
1. The masked ball

A/N:- Heya, this is probably just a one off thing but depending on how popular it is and if I have time I might add accounts from the rest of the Marauders, April and Jenny. I will include April and Jenny in this fic(Characters from my previous L/J fanfic All about Change) because I like their characters but the story line is in no way related to the story line of my other stories. Please tell me what you think of this story/chapter. I normally write in third person but writing in first person seemed to fit this story, tell me what you think.

I sat in the Prefect's common room tapping the end of my pencil on my charms textbook. Not many people saw the use in the muggle contraption but it came in useful when I didn't want to write in ink. I quickly underlined an important sentence in my textbook while playing with a lock of my curly red hair. I leaned back in my seat and waited for the head boy to come to the meeting, he was already half an hour late but it gave me time to just think about my life. As far as intelligence went I thought I was quite smart, many people had said I was the smartest witch in the year, I had received perfect OWL scores. The only person who I could even consider a threat was my best friend Jenny Chang but we always compete against each other and when we both got perfect OWL results we had turned our attention to bringing the academic level of our other best friend April Marsden up. 

April had to be the luckiest of us all, she had looks, brains and attitude. Her attitude was just perfect to get along with everyone, and I mean everyone. Everyone wanted her simply because she was hot. She acted like the typical ditzy blonde bimbo but she was incredibly smart and played and picked her boys carefully. If only she did the same thing for her studies she'd be cleverer then I was. Jenny was also incredibly beautiful, she was Chinese and as most people know, the Chinese are the best looking in the world. She has this slightly mysterious thing going for her and an element of feminine mystique. Me? Well, my wavy dark red hair and emerald eyes are something to boast about but all I have going for me really is the fact that the Head boy wants me and that every other guy wants to be the one to break my innocence, honestly do I have INNOCENT INEXPERIENCED VIRGIN written across my forehead? Sure I'm a virgin and I may be innocent but I'm not inexperienced. The entrance to the prefects common room opened and the head boy ran in slightly out of breath. His wire rimmed glasses were wonky on his long straight nose and his messy black untameable hair was messier then usual.

"About time you were here Potter." I said angrily. "I've been waiting here for an hour." He looked at me confused

"An hour? But the meeting started half an hour ago."

"I had homework to do." I snapped at him. "Where have you been? You're really late."

"Oh, yeah." He said awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, "there was this thing with Peeves and a bucket of water and Filch and-" He didn't need to finish his sentence, I knew what he was leading to. Everyone, may I introduce James Potter, the most arrogant, big headed ego driven boy in the whole of Hogwarts history. I honestly don't know how he became head boy, he wasn't even a prefect, I thought his friend Remus Lupin was going to be head boy. James Potter thinks it's cool to just go around and curse the hell out of people just because they looked at him wrong, or because their shoelaces are undone, the most pathetic excuses ever. And now that he's head boy he just gives away detentions like they're sweets, well I reckon it makes a change for him to give them away instead of receiving them.

"Just shut up Potter, we have a ball to organise." I snapped at him. He nodded and his hands went to his hair, no doubt to see if he can make it even messier. But no, he started to tug at it to flatten the odd angles it stuck in and to try and make it more presentable. I watched him curiously and when he looked at me I looked at the notes I had made.

"What are you looking at?" He asked with a smirk.

"Nothing, don't you normally make your hair messier?" I asked him, not looking up and waving my pencil in the rough direction of his hair.

"Yeah, usually but I think it's a bit too messy." He said. I nodded slowly, 

"So what ideas have you come up with?" I asked him. I wasn't expecting much, probably something in the way of a shag fest, James Potter has slept with almost every single girl in the school so has his best friend Sirius Black.

"Well I was thinking, because it's Christmas, lets make it all romantic and mysterious. I was thinking something in the way of a masked Ball. You know everyone has to wear a mask, it's a way of getting houses talking to each other and no one will know who everyone is because of the masks" James said, I sat there stunned, he had actually planned this properly in his head. "And then at about midnight, we'll ring a bell and everyone takes off their masks, it'll be like a completely romantic thing or whatever. I think it'll be really fun." James said. I sat there staring at him, stunned to silence. He looked at me for my opinion. "What do you think?" What did I think? I thought it was a brilliant idea, I couldn't have come up with it if I'd sat here for a week racking my brains for an idea, my mind just didn't work like that.

"It's ok." I lied, "But people will recognise voices and hair." I said as an afterthought. I was the only one in the school with hair so bright.

"Well isn't that what magic is for?" James asked, waving his wand in the air

"Yeah I suppose but will Dumbledore let us do that?"

"Of course, the teachers will also dress up as well, it's like that festival in Venice, I went there for the Venice festival last year, I really wish that it wasn't me and the whore I'd somehow managed to pick up." James said. I looked at him slightly amazed that he was telling me this but I'd found out where his idea had come from.

"Who would you have rather been with?" I asked him. He looked straight at me.

"Do you really need to ask me that?" He asked with a smirk. I looked away and closed my charms textbook. James had been asking me out since fifth year, he had a slight obsession with me, which was slightly worrying but sweet, last valentines cay James had given me sixty red roses with a small note saying that was how many times he'd thought of me during Transfiguration. I had completely blown my top but secretly I felt so pleased that someone thought of me so often.

"So, you'll talk to Dumbledore about the ball, I guess we'd have to put an age limit because other wise it could turn a bit weird." I said. James nodded.

"I reckon fourth years and above." James said, "People can't ask others to the ball unless they're already dating." I nodded my agreement, if we didn't do that it would defeat the whole object.

"Well I guess I can cross Remus off my list of boys to get with." I joked. James looked at me seriously.

"What?" he asked. I smirked.

"God, I'm Joking Potter. You know, saying something but not meaning it." I said sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I forgot, you're an expert aren't you?" I said patronisingly. James looked at me, his smile and happiness gone.

"Fine Evans, if you want it like that." James said, "I guess this meeting is over, we'll get the prefects together and talk about it further." I nodded and scooped all my books into my arms and headed back to our common room. I saw my two best friends sitting on the sofa we had claimed as ours and went and sat down.

"Oh my god, I cannot believe him." I said as I sat between Jenny and April. April wrapped an arm around me and pouted.

"What has his big headedness done to displease your royal highness?" She asked.

"Shut up April." I snapped at her. She grinned and gave me a friendly kiss on the cheek. We didn't find kissing each other's cheeks gay or anything like many of the people in this school did, it was just a sign of friendship and trust.

"You know we love you really." Jenny said.

*    *    *    *

I looked at myself in the mirror. My long periwinkle blue dress robes clung to my figure nicely, showing my curves. There was a slightly green shimmer to my robes, a birthday present from April last year, I hadn't had the chance to wore it but it was so incredibly beautiful. It would be enough to get a few dances maybe a few kisses. I had charmed my hair to be slightly darker and turned to Jenny

"What do you think?" I asked Jenny. Jenny frowned as she smoothed out her crimson robes. 

"Urgh, April's been eating in here again." She muttered as she got her wand out and charmed the stain off her robes. April came running into the dorm room, her long straight hair flowing out behind her.

"Masks." She said holding three masks. She handed one to me and I looked at it. It was made of the tops of peacock feathers, there were some feathers sticking out of the top, making the mask look bigger then is was. April handed a small red mask to Jenny. It was made of glittering red sequins and reminded me of one of those long red Chinese dragons. It was Jenny perfectly, the dragon, I think that's what year we were born under as well, according to the Chinese calendar.

"Thanks." Jenny said taking the mask.

"Put them on." April said. She looked at me as I put my mask on. April gasped as I looked at myself in the mirror. No one would be able to tell it was me, you couldn't even see my hair properly. The mask just completed my look for the night, it suited the dress robes.

"Oh Lily, you look so pretty." Jenny said. I took the mask off and turned to Jenny,

"Your turn." I said to her. Jenny nodded and put on the mask. I could almost hear the gongs and the sound of dragons in my head as she put it on. It completed the whole Chinese, feminine look that suited Jenny. The red mask went with her dress robes and she gave us an awkward smile.

"Do you think Remus will recognise me?" She asked. "I can't recognise myself."

"He'll just die when you look at him."  April said waving a hand casually.

"April, I don't want him dead." Jenny said with a smile. April grinned. "Come on, you try yours on." She said. April looked at us shyly,

"Do I have to?" She asked.

"April." Jenny and I said sternly at the same time. April nodded and quickly looked over her sea green dress robes, They made her look even better then usual, as my robes had done to me. April had an impeccable taste in clothing. April dipped her head and put on her mask, it was pale blue with a few green and blue feathers sticking out of the sides, it reminded Lily of some exotic birds. I told April this and she laughed

"You are an exotic woman, April, it suits you." I told her.

"You're just saying that." April said shyly. Jenny and I looked at each other. April was never shy. "Come on, we have to get downstairs. The ball is starting without us." I nodded and put my mask on. Jenny and April did the same, it was a rule that masks must be on when outside dorm rooms.

"Come on" Jenny said. It was strange walking into the great hall and not recognising anyone but April and Jenny. The hall was filled with so many masked people, I suddenly felt that there was more in that big head of James' then just hair. I could recognise Dumbledore immediately. He had on some strange purple and silver dress robes with a mask that seemed to be made up of socks. I looked at Jenny and April and we all started laughing. Our eccentric old Headmaster was brilliant sometimes. There was glittering confetti coming down from the ceiling and showered us in sparkling light.

"Lets go over there." April said taking my hand.

"Ok." I said. "Jenny?" I turned to Jenny but she had spotted, who I think must have been Remus and was walking towards him.

"Leave her." April said with a grin.

"Of course." I said grinning back. "We need to find some guys" I said to April.

"That's easy. Look there's a guy coming over now." April said pointing out a guy that was walking over to us. He wore a simple black dress robe and had a glittering Silver mask. He glanced at April then to me.

"May I have the honour of dancing with you?" He asked me kindly. I looked at April.

"Go for it, I can look after myself." April told me. I nodded and took the guy's hand. I recognised his voice and his eyes seemed vaguely familiar.

"You look absolutely stunning." He said to me as I put a hand on his arm and put my other hand around his neck.

"Do you even know who I am?" I asked him with a smile

"I have a vague idea." He said with a knowing smile. "So, the decorations are great aren't they?" I looked around. The twelve huge Christmas trees were glittering, like everything else, so much sparkling. There were real fairies in them and they were also flying above our heads holding little lanterns to provide some light.

"Yeah, they're amazing." I agreed. "The decorations get better every year."

"I know" He said. 

"So what can I call you?" I asked him casually

"Call me prongs." He said with a smile. "And I'll call you Peacock, if you don't mind, but that's just kind of what you remind me of with that mask, it looks amazing." He said. I smiled.

"That's fine with me." I said to him. Prongs, such a strange name but if that's what he wanted to be called, that's what I would call him. 

"So, fifth year?" He asked. I opened my mouth in mock shock.

"You think I'm that young?" I asked him. He laughed.

"Ok, obviously older." He said, "OWL results. What were they?"

"All Os, yours?" I asked him.

"Nine Os, two Es and an A" He said, "A for History of Magic, I never understood all that stuff about Goblin rebellions and the leaders all had such similar names." I smiled.

"Well, I found that if you just kind of tried to associate a history with a sound so you think of something completely disgusting and you go urgh, so I remember Urg the unclean and his rebellion." I said to him.

"Yeah, I tried doing something like that but my friend mixed up the meanings so I got into the exam and I just got so confused but I guess I did ok if I got an A" he said.

"Yeah, you did really well." I said, Prongs seemed so kind, he wasn't forcing me to get any closer and he was willingly talking about school at the Christmas masked ball. "So what's your best subject?" I asked him.

"Transfiguration. I've always been good at it. When I first got my wand Mr. Olliviander said my wand would help with transfiguration. It really has, I find it easier to transfigure things with my wand then with anyone else's, and even though I think McGonagall hates me I think secretly she's proud, apparently I got the best OWL marks for transfiguration in my year, which was really surprising because there were several people I thought who would be better then I was." I simply nodded. Prongs just continued to talk about school and various things and it was enchanting me to just listen to him talk. I was beyond caring what he was talking about, I just looked at him and I could feel myself smiling. He noticed me just staring at him and grinned.

"You're not listening are you?" He asked me.

"Honestly? No I'm not but I love watching your mouth move, not that I was watching your mouth." I said quickly, "Very much." My voice getting quieter as I dug myself a hole. He laughed gently and looked into my eyes. "Shit, I just completely dug myself a hole didn't I?" I asked him.

"No, you didn't. I've been watching your mouth too. I love your smile." He said, I saw his eyes moved down to my mouth as I smiled as he complimented me, "There, that's the smile I love." He said. I frowned, he loved? Did he know who I was, my smile disappeared for a fraction of a second but I put it back on. "Do you want to go for a walk?" He asked me, offering his arm. I grinned and put my arm through his. I glanced around and saw April dancing with a boy with a black mask and black dress robes, the mask had a strange dog like quality to it. April gave me a smile and wrapped her arms around her guy a bit tighter. I looked at Prongs and he gave me a smile. I pulled closer to him and put my head on his shoulder.

"So, where are we going to go?" I asked him as we left the castle and went onto the cold, snow covered grounds. There was a mist over the ground, where vapour from the lake had spread over the land. It gave the grounds a slightly eerie feel and I shivered slightly, not from cold but because the grounds looked so spooky and haunted, well the grounds were haunted but not that that made any difference.

"You scared?" Prongs asked with a cheeky grin. I looked at him.

"No." I said defensively. There was a splash on the lake and I jumped slightly. "Ok, maybe a little." I said. Prongs laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"You're so cute when you're scared." He said. I turned to him and smiled, 

"You're so sweet when you laugh, honestly, will you laugh at me every time I make a fool of myself?" I asked him. He put a hand to his chin as if pretending to think then grinned.

"Yes." He said. I laughed as well and hit him lightly. "Let's go over there, towards the forest." He said.

"Are you joking?" I asked him seriously, "I heard there are werewolves and vampires and other kinds of creatures in there." He shook his head.

"Ah, peacock, you need to learn that a, there is no full moon so there will be no werewolves and Vampires hate the combination of Snow and mist, so there will be no mist and I'm armed with my wand, and I did get an O in my OWL for defence against the dark arts." He said reassuringly.

"So did I, and I suppose it'll be ok." I said uncertainly, "I mean I guess I've learnt about the animals that live in there." He smiled and we walked silently towards the forest and then walked along the edge of the forest. All the time I kept sneaking glances ad Prongs to just try and figure out who he was, I recognised his voice and his eyes and though they were familiar to me they were still so strange and so grown up. Every time he sensed my gaze he would turn to look at me, I simply smiled the first few times and received a stunning smile back. 

"I was wondering if you could give me some advice." He said as we walked along the edge of the forest.

"It depends what kind of advice" I said to him, looking at his mask.

"It's girl stuff, I want help understanding the mind of a girl and I thought that maybe you could help me out." Prongs said.

"Sure, just ask." I told him. He nodded and stayed quiet for a few moments as if choosing the right words to say.

"There's this girl I really really like, I've liked her for ages but she won't give me the time of day. And I guess I know why because I have been a bit of a bastard to her in the past but I'm really trying to…improve myself, I guess is the word." He looksed straight ahead.

"You seem like an amazing guy, this girl must be a bit stuck up to be like that." I told him seriously. He nodded.

"Yeah, that's what my friends think, they're telling me to get over her but I can't." He said, "You remind me of her slightly." Prongs said looking at me with a smile. I gave him a smile back, I wasn't really sure if that was what I wanted to hear or not but just being with Prongs seemed to make me feel happier.

After about an hour of walking with very little small talk, we stopped at the edge of the lake. There was a thin layer of ice on the lake and the mist seemed to rise off the ice. Prongs bent over and brushed some snow off the floor and picked up a small round stone.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, my arms crossed against the cold, my breath froze in the air, as did Prongs but he didn't seem to feel the cold.

"Seeing how far I can throw this stone." He said with a smirk. He threw the stone and threw it. I didn't even see where it hit the water but Prongs obviously did as he gave a grin of delight. "Well that went further then last time." He said. I gave an amused laugh and he turned to look at me.

"Do you always do that when you come to the lake?" I asked him.

"Yeah, well no. Occasionally I dip Wormtail in there but that's only with the help of Padfoot." I looked at him confused and though he couldn't see my face he obviously saw it in my eyes. "Come on, it's cold out here, do you want to be getting back to the castle, it's nearly midnight." He said.

"I want to see who my masked man is." I said with a smile. He grinned a grin that seemed to reach from one ear to the other.

"Does your masked man get anything for being so nice to you?" He asked. I shrugged and started walking along the edge of the lake. Prongs followed me quickly.

"It depends." I said,

"Depends on what?" He asked, I felt his hand slip into mine and he held it tightly and I stopped as I felt my skin tingle slightly and looked at it. He looked at his hand as well and when we both looked up into each other's eyes.

"Did you feel-"

"-That." I finished for him. We both nodded. Prongs looked at me, his smile gone and a slight look of determination in his eyes.

"Do you mind if I-" I saw him look at my lips and then back to my eyes. I took his other hand with mine and pulled him slightly closer. He took this as a form on consent and put his arms around me. I could feel one of his hands on the small of my back, the other near the base of my neck. I closed my eyes as our faces got closer. I felt his breath playing on my lips and then the soft skin of his lips touched mine. The moment they touched he pulled me closer as he realised I wasn't going to suddenly pull away. I put my arms around his neck and our kiss intensified into a slightly fiery more passionate kiss. After what seemed like only a couple of seconds I felt his tongue gently slip into my mouth and touch my tongue gently. Prongs seemed to be holding back as if worried about me suddenly running away. To show him I wasn't I let my tongue touch his and tease him to give me more. I felt him pull me closer to him and his hands playing with something in my hair. I a few minutes my long wavy red hair fell cascading down my back, there was no doubt now who I was and I already had the feeling that Prongs knew who I was anyway, like he'd seen straight through my disguise and mask and had seen the girl underneath it all.

After what seemed like forever a loud bell rang through the castle and the grounds to mark Midnight, time to take our masks off but Prongs and I didn't let go of each other, in fact the kiss was just starting to get even better. Neither of us had actually surfaced for air and I could feel my cheeks going read and my body craving for oxygen but I didn't want to stop the kiss. What if I never got another one like it again. Suddenly, I my body couldn't take it anymore, I pulled away from the kiss breathing heavily, breathing in the oxygen around me. Prong's hand went to my cheek and he hooked two fingers under my mask and slowly pulled it off. My disguise had gone. He knew who I was, Lily Evans, head girl. Best student in the year. My body was humming, my heart racing as he replaced his arm around me and kept me close to him. Slowly I let go and raised both my hands to either side of his mask and pulled it gently towards me at first then lifted it up and over his face. As I threw it on the floor next to my discarded mask I gasped.

"James." I breathed. He gave me a weak and worrying smile. I pushed him away from me and put my had to my mouth, I had been kissing James Potter!

"Lily, please don't run." He said to me, grabbing my hand. I stopped and looked at where he held my hand tightly in his.

"Let go of me." I said slowly. My body was still alive, I wanted that kiss even more but it was James Potter! My enemy, the one boy I despised most in the world.

"No." He said defiantly. "Lily, please just look past our history and think of the guy you were with tonight."

"You knew who I was." I asked him slightly annoyed.

"No, yes, I did, I recognised your eyes instantly but please, Lily. What I was saying was true, you don't give me the time of day and you yourself said I was an amazing guy, that's who I really am. I let down all the walls tonight, I wanted you to know talk to the real me. Not even Pad-Sirius really knows the slightly more sensitive, more gentle and romantic side of me." James looked at me pleadingly. I looked into his eyes, they held so much hope and desperation. I just stared into his eyes and then he let go of my hand and bent over to pick up my mask off the floor. He blew the snow off it and brushed it clean before handing it to me. I watched him carefully and took the mask slowly from him, not taking my eyes off him

"Well, I tried." He said defeated, "I guess I'll take this as my final rejection, I'll stop annoying you now." James said quietly. I held the mask in my hand and I suddenly felt a great sympathy for James, had I been so evil as to completely ignore him like he had described. Did I cause him this much pain, I knew he liked me but I didn't think he liked me this much. I smiled at him and took his hand.

"Take it as your final rejection but don't make it the last time you try and get me as your girlfriend." I said to him gently. He looked at me in the eyes.

"You-you mean that?" He asked. I smiled.

"I'm sorry James. I am a bit thick not to noticed how you changed and I can't believe you got better marks then me in our Transfiguration OWL but next time you ask, I won' say no." I told him gently, trying to nurse his wounded pride and deflated ego. He gave me a smile and nervously put his arms around my waist again. I dropped my mask and put my arms around his neck as he pressed his lips against mine. That kiss, it was enough to make my insides melt. He pulled away after a few seconds.

"Will you go out with me?" he muttered against my lips.

"I'll need some persuasion." I breathed back. I smiled as I felt his tongue in my mouth and gently pulled me into a kiss with increasing intensity.

"So?" He asked as well pulled away again after a few moments.

"How's next Hogsmeade weekend sound?" I asked him.

"Great." He said as he kissed me again.

A/N:- please review this, I might do a bit more if I have time and am bored enough


	2. A Christmas Betrayal

A/N:- Heya, here's the next chappie, there should be about 7 chappies, each from a different character, which means there is now...James, Remus, Jenny, Peter and Sirius left. Please read and review  
  
A Christmas Time Betrayal  
  
April's POV  
  
Oh such a lovely morning, everything is great. I had yet another good night, I have no homework and I'm desperately waiting for Lily to wake up. I sat and stared at the ceiling of my four poster bed. I thought of last night, the masked ball. It was ingenious, I loved it so much. I grinned to myself and stretched. I sat up slowly and ran a hand through my long blonde hair. Oh crap, bed hair, I hate that so much, oh the price of being vain. Never mind. I wonder if Lily's back from her date. She looked like she was having fun last night, even if she did disappear after about fifteen minutes. I opened my crimson velvet hangings and looked into the dorm room. Jenny was obviously still asleep and so were Jessica and Fran. They were our other room mates. We didn't really get along and they often kept to themselves which was fine because Lily, Jenny and I never really included them in anything anyway. Their only purpose in life was to please the guys.  
  
I slowly slipped out from the warm protection my duvet offered me and put my foot on the freezing stone floor. I winced at the cold and quickly ran to Lily's bed on my toes. Lily's bed was right next to mine and I could have jumped across if I wanted to but it was to early for any extraneous exercise. Oh damn, look at that, a long word so early in the morning, I'm turning into Jenny. I glanced at the small bedside table next to Lily's bed and saw her mask and wand lying on it. I grinned and slipped in through her hangings and sat on the bed and closed the hangings behind me. Lily was still sleeping and looked all snug and happy curled up like a baby in her duvet. Her red hair spread across her pillow and it partially covered her face. I got onto my hands and knees and gently moved some of the hair away from her face. Lily scowled and turned over. She bumped into my legs and opened her eyes.  
  
"April." She muttered. "Get out of my bed." She muttered as she pulled the duvet over her head and tried to get back to sleep. It wasn't going to be that easy for her. I pulled up the duvet and slipped under it as well. Lily didn't care usually but she moaned this time and turned over.  
  
"Lily, please talk to me." I said pretending to be upset. "You weren't no where to be seen last night, I had no one to talk to." Lily muttered something I couldn't hear into a pillow. "What was that my dearest?" I asked.  
  
"Fuck off April, I was out late last night." Lily said slightly louder. I grinned and looked at Lily to see her smiling slightly as well.  
  
"Who was the lucky boy?" I asked crawling over Lily so that she was facing me.  
  
"I'm not telling you." Lily said as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. She had a smile on her face like she had just been given the best thing in the world. One of those smiles that we girls usually have when we talk about someone we really like but don't want to tell our friends but do want to tell them at the same time.  
  
"Oh, tell me." I asked her as I sat on her legs. Lily shook her head.  
  
"It was no one" Lily said, "just a one night thing really." I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. She definitely wasn't going to get away with this and not tell me who it was or what they did.  
  
"I'm your sister though." I moaned, trying to get the sympathy vote.  
  
"Not by blood or marriage so no you're not my sister but I love you anyway." Lily said with a smile.  
  
"Lily." I said looking at her annoyed. Lily looked at me and grinned  
  
"Ok fine. I won't tell you who he was but he gave me the most amazing kisses." She said dreamily, "and he's so clever and intelligent and he's so sweet and gently." I smiled at Lily, she looked at me. "I know." She screamed excitedly. I screamed for her as well and that's when a shoe came through the hangings and just missed the two of us.  
  
"Will you two shut up!" Jenny shouted from her bed. "Some of us are trying to sleep."  
  
"Same." Came Jessica's voice.  
  
"Sorry." Lily said.  
  
"Come on, lets go to the common room." I said taking Lily's hand.  
  
"Ok." Lily and I got changed quickly and were about to go to the common room when I stopped by the mirror. My hair was a mess. I hadn't actually brushed it before going to bed last night and there was still quite a lot of hair product in it and Sirius had messed my hair up quite badly after the ball, or during the ball, I forget, it passed so quickly. The thought of Sirius made me smile and after waving my wand so my hair looked perfect I followed Lily. As usual her hair was perfect without her even having to do anything to it. I was so jealous of her sometimes. She had boys falling at her feet and yet she pretty much ignored all of them. Yes she did go out with guys and she was never single for too long but most guys found her a bit too intelligent for her. The only guy who had wanted her and would always want her was James Potter and Lily hated his guts though she had started talking to him politely since Remus and Jenny started dating. Lily felt she owed it to Jenny. I, however, have already experienced the thing that is James Potter. It was just one kiss under mistletoe last Christmas and he wasn't as good as Sirius.  
  
As a rule I couldn't go out with the ringleaders of the group that was known as the Marauders. This group consisted of the one and only James Potter, the stunningly sexy Sirius Black, the romantic sweetheart Remus Lupin and the slightly podgy yet popular Peter Pettigrew. Lily, Jenny and myself had promised not to go out with the ring leaders of the group, Sirius or James. They were the biggest players in the entire universe, or Hogwarts at any rate. They were off bounds, we weren't going to lower ourselves to their standards. Jenny had done well to get Remus. He owled her all the time they weren't at school and he took great care of her. I felt pleased for them but now I wanted Sirius Black. I never really thought of him before as I did now. He was just another good looking guy who I hung around with, flirted with and got picked on in return. Not serious picking on but Lily and I were sometimes the butt of their jokes and pranks. If it wasn't the Slytherins it was us. The promise Lily and I had made had become a lot harder since yesterday afternoon when Sirius had cornered me in the hall on the way back from the Owlery with the masks. He had pulled me into an empty classroom and told me he really liked me.  
  
Now I don't normally fall for guys telling me that they fancy me because I can see straight through their lies, you see, I'm what you call a Legillimen. I'm not very good at it but I have some skill and can at least tell if guys lie to me. It's great sometimes because when they try and break up with you, you can get to them first and suddenly they're your cast offs instead of you being their cast off. But anyway, I'm straying, I could see that Sirius was telling the truth and he gave me a quick, gentlemanly kiss on the cheek.  
  
"April watch out!" Lily said moments before I crashed into a wall. I stopped and blinked a few times, staring at the blank grey wall.  
  
"Thanks." I said to Lily. I heard Lily giggle slightly and I turned to her. "Come on, you need to tell me everything, what you did and all that stuff." I said jumping onto the sofa next to Lily. She had her legs tucked up against her chest while I sat on mine and had one arm over the back of the sofa. Lily smiled shyly as she described the night's events to me. I found it rather annoying that she didn't tell me his name or what she called him. I had to call Sirius Padfoot for the whole night, it was a really random name but strangely it suited him. I grinned as Lily's tale continued and when she finished she was almost as ditzy as I usually am.  
  
"You're in loove" I sang. Lily hit me lightly.  
  
"No I'm not." She snapped in an amused voice. "I really like him though and I can't be with him." Her expression suddenly going slightly sad.  
  
"Why not?" I asked her curiously.  
  
"It's just this thing between us." Lily said with a sigh, "we just can't be together." She looked genuinely disappointed  
  
"Tell me who it is and curse them to hell." I said. Lily smiled.  
  
"No it's fine." She said. "So what about you? What did you get up to?" Lily asked me. I was about to answer when I saw Sirius walking down the stairs from the boys dorm swinging a monocle around his finger and a pipe in his mouth. He looked at me and pretended to look in shock.  
  
"Oh my dearest April, could it really be you? I have not seen you in years darling." He said in a posh English accent. I laughed and Lily looked at him then turned to me.  
  
"You fell for him?" Lily asked me. I smiled guiltily as Sirius approached. Lily smirked and shook her head. "Honestly." Lily said laughing. Sirius sat between Lily and April and put his arms around their shoulders.  
  
"How bout a kiss?" He asked in his usual voice. His black hair was fairly long for a boy but it suited Sirius so well. It fell with an elegant grace and charm over his deep dark brown eyes. He shot me a grin, a grin that made most girls go weak at the knees, what some girls would do for that grin.  
  
"Sorry Padfoot." I said, "I can't, I made a promise and last night was the exception." I told him sadly. Sirius looked at me seriously.  
  
"What?" He asked. I looked at Lily for help and support.  
  
"She's already taken." Lily said. Sirius looked at her.  
  
"Who?" Sirius looked at April, "Tell me who he is so I can curse him." April looked sorrowfully. Sirius was one of the dirtiest minded people in the school but he was so sweet sometimes.  
  
"I'm afraid I'm Lily's girlfriend." I said, trying to keep a serious face. I saw Lily crack up behind Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened and he looked at Lily, who had gotten her facial expressions under control.  
  
"I knew it." He said.  
  
"Knew what?" Lily asked.  
  
"I knew you two were gay. I've tried to tell James so often but he just won't listen." Sirius said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Hey, do you think that you two could-"  
  
"Padfoot." Came a voice from the boy's dorms. Sirius turned to see James Potter with a guy with sandy coloured hair and fairly pale skin. James Potter and Remus Lupin. Remus was quite good looking but he always looked like he was slightly ill. Not that that bothered anyone who went out with him. His body was almost as good as Sirius' or James' but he was a bit on the lean side. It could have something to do with the fact that he went home for a few days every month for some reason. I knew Jenny knew why but she wouldn't tell me or Lily.  
  
"Yes Prongs." Sirius said. Lily's face suddenly changed like she had just realised something.  
  
"We got to get breakfast then got some jokes to prepare." James said. "Stop bugging Evans and Marsden."  
  
"James, did you know that they're-" Lily had put a silencing charm on Sirius and he looked at her slightly annoyed.  
  
"You're not going to cause anymore trouble Potter." She said to him. James gave her a daring look.  
  
"Try and stop me Evans, I'm the shit around here." He said, "And you know it." I swear I saw Lily smiling slightly but it must have been my imagination because she was scowling at him.  
  
"I wondered what that smell was." Lily said, "Must be you, now you won't be pulling any...jokes or pranks, you're head boy and you're supposed to set an example to the younger years." James looked at Remus and walked down the rest of the steps to Lily. He was a good five inches taller then she was. I watched worriedly. Lily and James weren't known to be the best of friends and one of them always came out of their confrontations hexed or jinxed.  
  
"Very funny Evans, maybe next time I'll let the peacocks fly free." He said.  
  
"Peacocks can't fly" lily snapped back at James. Lily glared at him as he left with Remus. Sirius got up as well.  
  
"And April and I aren't really together, Sirius." Lily snapped. Sirius looked at her like she'd said the worst thing possible. I laughed at his face, if he could speak I guess I'd be rolling on the floor with laughter. James grabbed the back of Sirius' shirt and pulled him out of the common room with him. Lily sat down next to me wit her arms crossed.  
  
"What did James mean, let the Peacocks fly free?" I asked Lily.  
  
"Nothing." Lily muttered.  
  
"You guys didn't have a fight at the ball did you?" I asked Lily, "You two have to learn to get together, how are you ever going to be able to attend Jenny's wedding if you can't even be in the same room as him-"  
  
"I'm not getting married" came Jenny's voice, cutting me off. I turned and grinned as Jenny jumped on the sofa, over me and Lily. "So, how are my beautiful girlfriends today."  
  
"Feeling positively glowing." I replied. Jenny laughed with me, her Chinese features looking better as she laughed.  
  
"I swear I could really-" Lily stared muttering. Jenny put a hand over Lily's mouth.  
  
"Lets try and go one day without cursing James Potter." Jenny said. "April's right."  
  
"Sorry." Lily muttered "It's just that-"  
  
"Sh!" I said to Lily. Lily looked at me and smirked.  
  
"Sorry." Lily said.  
  
"Come on, breakfast awaits us in the great hall." I said to them. I stood up causing Jenny to fall to the floor.  
  
"Bitch." Jenny muttered as she stood up. I gave Jenny a smile and she rolled her eyes. Lily got up as well and we headed to the great hall. The decorations were still up from the night before but there was no glitter, thank god. If the glitter got into the food it would be all gritty like when you go to the beach and try to eat but all the sand gets in your food and your jaws like, crack together. We headed for one end of the table but Jenny dragged us to where Remus was sitting with James and Sirius. Lily let out a moan of annoyance as we dragged her over and sat down. Luckily for her James sat next to Remus on the opposite side of the table. I placed my lovely little arse right nest to Sirius while Jenny sat next to Remus after giving him a little kiss from behind. Remus smiled and put his arm around Jenny.  
  
"How was all your girls nights?" Remus asked.  
  
"Do you really need an answer to that Moony?" Sirius asked. "We know about you and Jenny, there was myself and this fine specimen of a woman right here." He put his arm around Lily. "Wait, you do need it answered. Lily, care to make our Prongs jealous?" Sirius asked Lily. Lily looked at Sirius then looked at James.  
  
"No not really." She said, "He knows what happened." Everyone looked at her confused.  
  
"I was watching, I got jealous of the guy she was with," James explained to us. I nodded slowly but knew they weren't telling everything but I knew what had happened on Lily's date  
  
"Lily's date sounds like it was better then the rest of ours." I told them. "The guy she was with didn't push her to do anything and it was so sweet." Sirius laughed.  
  
"A guy who doesn't push just a little is a complete wimp, obviously not confident with girls." Sirius remarked. I felt Lily shift slightly next to me and I looked at her.  
  
"I'm going to go and have a shower. Do you need any help with your homework after?" Lily asked me.  
  
"No, it's all done." I told her. She smiled and left us in the great hall.  
  
* * * *  
  
Ah, Christmas holidays, the best time of year. Just sit back, relax and let the presents come to you. It seems that this year it's only the seventh year students who have been kicked out of their homes for the holidays. Well, Jessica and Fran have gone home, but they're not important. What is important however is that Sirius is coming my way with a cheeky look on his face. I stayed lying down on the sofa. It was one of those rare occasions when I was on my own. Jenny with Remus and Lily in our room fussing over ever increasing wardrobe. It's not my fault if I keep finding things that will looked brilliant on Lily. Sirius sat on the edge of the sofa and I felt it dip where he sat by my hips.  
  
"Good day Sirius." I said pleasantly, "what's up?"  
  
"You don't want to know" Sirius said. "I was wondering if-"  
  
"No." I said confidently. Sirius looked at me slightly upset,  
  
"But you and Lily, you told me that-"  
  
"We were joking Sirius." I said laughing. "You have a sick mind Mr. Black." He smirked.  
  
"I can't help it. With ladies like you provoking me like you do." He said. I sat up and looked at him.  
  
"How am I provoking you? I'm just lying here on the sofa." I said defensively. What was Sirius up to?  
  
"Yes, all lonely and helpless and doing nothing." Sirius said with a cheeky smile. I raised an eyebrow and looked into those deep dark eyes.  
  
"What do you mean?" I asked Sirius pretending not to understand. I knew what he was going to say but I wanted to hear it from Sirius. I had never seen Sirius try so hard to get a girl. His usual tactics were go to girl, kiss her face off, a quick shag if she's fit enough and then dump her. It must of killed him that it took more then a kiss to get me into bed. So far there hadn't been a single boy who'd managed to get into bed with me. Lily and Jenny had but not in the sense that the boys seemed to think of. Sirius looked at me.  
  
"You're so..." Sirius took in a deep breath, "Hot is the only word I can thing of." I gave him a seductive smile and brushed some of his long hair out of his eyes.  
  
"Why thank you." I said kindly. "Was that really that hard to get out?" I asked him  
  
"No not really." Sirius said smiling. "But it's not just your hotness that I like. I like your eyes to." I looked at him confused yet very amused. "They're so cute and your nose and your cheek looks so kissable and you're really clever and you know just how to dress." I looked at Sirius suspiciously. Since I had discovered he liked me he had only really seen me in my school uniform and my dress robes.  
  
"How do you know?" I asked him. "All I wear is my uniform."  
  
"Do you know how hot the uniform looks on you. There are only two girls who can pull of the school uniform in a way that it gets all the guys worked up." Sirius said. I smiled.  
  
"And who may they be?" I asked. I liked this game. It was like give a little get a bit more plus Sirius was really boosting my self-esteem. The more he complimented me the better I felt.  
  
"You and Evans." Sirius said. I smirked.  
  
"Yeah, Lily does look kinda hot in her uniform doesn't she?" I asked Sirius. He grinned. "No Sirius I'm not gay." Sirius' grin faded away.  
  
"Prove it." He said. I grinned, that I was happy to do, I sat up properly and put my head closer to his. Sirius looked at me slightly surprised. "You don't have to honestly." Sirius said quickly. I closed my eyes as if I was about to kiss Sirius.  
  
"Maybe some other day." I muttered against his mouth. I pulled away and looked at Sirius. He looked ready to receive a kiss. I got up and kissed his cheek.  
  
"See you." I said happily. Sirius opened his eyes and looked at me confused.  
  
"April!" Lily screamed from the girls dorms  
  
"Yes Lily!" I shouted back.  
  
"Where are my Potion's notes?" She asked. She came down the stairs.  
  
"They're under your pink halter top" I said.  
  
"Thanks!" She said. "So, what do you want to do, I'm bored." I went to Lily and put my arms around her neck. She looked at me curiously. "What are you up to?" She asked me.  
  
"Play along." I said, "Sirius still thinks we're gay." Lily rolled her eyes and kissed my cheek.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" She muttered into my ear as she pulled away.  
  
"Because I'm bored and it's funny." I said. Lily and I shot a glance at Sirius, who was staring at us wide eyed and his mouth slightly open  
  
"Could you girls do that again, only on the lips?" Sirius asked. I laughed and Lily chuckled.  
  
"You up for it darling?" Lily asked me, putting her hands on my waist. I was about to nod when I burst out laughing and had to lean against the table. "Honestly April, you're a crap actress." I held my side and nodded.  
  
"I know, that's why I'm not going into acting." April said. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling where a sprig of mistletoe was hanging in the air right above her.  
  
"Uh oh." She muttered.  
  
"What?" I asked her curiously. I looked up as well and smiled. "Sirius get under that mistletoe with Lily and free her of the curse of the mistletoe." I ordered. Sirius got up ready to follow my order when James seemed to get there first. "Where'd you come from?" I asked him curiously. I hadn't honestly seen him come from anywhere.  
  
"Oh, I was just-" James said. I saw him looking at Lily with a smile. Lily was so going to slap him, I could just see it, her hand would go back and slap him. I was about to say something when Lily sighed.  
  
"It had to be you didn't it?" She asked him pleasantly with a smile. Both Sirius and I looked at each other, was Lily being civil, even friendly to James. James grinned and nodded.  
  
"It's bad luck not to kiss the person who's under the mistletoe with you." James said.  
  
"James, get out of there before she hits you." Sirius said warningly.  
  
"I know what I'm doing." James said. He bent down and scooped Lily into a kiss. To my surprise she didn't seem surprised or shocked at all. Actually, she completely surprised both me and Sirius when she put her arms around James' neck and pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Sirius and I looked at each other curiously. He walked over to me and put his arm around my waist.  
  
"Is it me or are they kissing like a couple?" Sirius asked me.  
  
"It's not you." I told him, their kiss seemed to go on for a long time. "You didn't know about this?" I asked Sirius.  
  
"James would have told me if-" Sirius started to say his sentence when Lily and James broke apart.  
  
"Not quite as good as last time." Lily said to James. I looked at her in surprise, last time? James grinned and put his arms around her waist and pushed her against the sofa. "No James, not-" She let out a scream as they went over the sofa and onto the cushions of the seats, James attacking her with kisses.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" I asked. "Yesterday you two were at each other's throats in insults and now you're just at each other's throats." I said.  
  
"And have you two been going out?" Sirius asked. James had stopped kissing Lily.  
  
"Shall we tell them?" He asked her, looking into her eyes. Lily grinned.  
  
"Why not?" Lily asked leaning up and putting a kiss on James' lips. James sat up properly, letting Lily get up herself.  
  
"Explain, Lily, explain." I said to Lily.  
  
"James and I have been going out since the masked ball." She said awkwardly yet happily at the same time.  
  
"He's the guy you've been writing to?" I asked Lily. She nodded. Over the past few weeks Lily had been sending letters off everyday to her /i, she wouldn't tell us who he was and now I found out I was speechless.  
  
"But you two have been murdering each other recently." Sirius said, as shocked as I was.  
  
"We have to keep up appearances." James said. "If we suddenly became all nice to each other then everyone would get suspicious and we wanted to keep everything under wraps." I was still speechless. Lily and I had made a pact with Jenny not to go out with James and Sirius, the biggest players in the school and Lily had gone against that and had started dating James. I could feel something inside me rising. Anger? Hurt? Annoyance? Or betrayal? I couldn't put my finger on it. She was supposed to be my best friend and keep to her promise. Because of that promise I hadn't gone out with Sirius, even though he asked me out indirectly every single day.  
  
"You betrayed me." I said to Lily. She looked at me slightly surprised.  
  
"What?" She asked me confused. "How?"  
  
"We made a promise that we wouldn't go out with James or Sirius and you broke it." I said. Sirius and James looked at us incredulously, another long word but now's not the time. Lily looked at me suddenly realizing what she'd done.  
  
"That's a crap promise." James said. Lily hit him lightly as she got up.  
  
"Shut up." She said to James. He nodded and lily got up. "I'm sorry April, I haven't really been thinking properly, it's just that James makes me feel, happy." What a crap excuse!  
  
"That's how Sirius makes me feel but you don't see me going behind your back and dating him without you knowing. I've liked him for ages, you know that, and I've been controlling myself for months and you-" I pointed at James. I was fully aware I was spilling out all my untold feelings for Sirius out in front of him but I just wasn't bothered right now. I was hurt that Lily broke a promise that we had made, together, a pact as sisters. Lily looked at me sadly.  
  
"April, I-"  
  
"I know what you're going to say and it's the same for me, Lily, you know that. Merlin, I thought you'd actually stick by it." I said, tears coming to my eyes. I turned and ran up the stairs to the girls dorms. Sirius followed me up but by the time he'd reached the third step the stairs turned into a slide, fortunately I'd reached my room by then. No one would be bothering me for a while now. I ran straight to my bed and threw myself under the still warm covers. I guess the promise wasn't very important really, it was a stupid one we'd made in our third year but it was more the fact that Lily had gone against it and lied to me as well. She told me everything, yes we hid some stuff from Jenny, she didn't mind that at all, she let us have our secrets because she knew that she couldn't quite get into the bond that Lily and I had. We had been friends before Jenny joined us.  
  
I buried my head into my pillow and cried, I didn't cry often and it felt strange but it just seemed like the thing to do. Lily wasn't supposed to lie to me, she couldn't lie to me. I never hid anything from her, I openly told her about me fancying Sirius, I had told her about every single little affair I've ever had, she knows everything about me, when my periods are, where to poke me to wake me up, she knows what buttons to push to make me angry, happy, sad or depressed. I knew exactly the same thing about her. How could Lily do this to me...ok now that sounds a bit gay but still. Lily with James, was that even possible anyway? They were so completely different, well I didn't actually know James as well as I could but still. The guy she hated most, the person she hated most after her sister. Why him of all people anyway? I have nothing against James but still, it's the principles of the whole thing.  
  
Once I'd finally gotten my crying under control I rolled onto my side and held my duvets close to me, this was one of those moments where you just want to crawl up in a hole and never come out, at least I can sort of do that here. The hangings enclosed around me remind me of a coffin in a way. When I went to my great granddad's funeral when I was ten his coffin had lining that was crimson, just like my hangings. The hangings suddenly seemed so suffocating and I felt slightly claustrophobic in the bed. I jumped out of the bed and staggered to my feet before I fell onto Jenny's bed. I went to the window and moved the jug of water and the cups that were on the window ledge and put them on the floor. I pushed myself up to sit on the window ledge and opened the window wide so the bitter cold air was striking my face. I could almost smell the snow in the air, the ice from the lake. I think the fresh air is exactly what I needed just then because I was starting to feel less panicked and stressed and more depressed and upset. 


	3. Taming the Wolf

**A/N:-oh finally, I am BACK from holiday, ok, here's the next instalment, Jenny's POV, I personally feel that this chapter is really beautiful (because I was all emotional when I wrote it, and pissed off with my brothers) I hope you like it as much as me**

**This chapter is dedicated to Jessie Flower, one of my most loyal and loveliest reviewers and a hhhuuuuuuge jeeny/remus fan (for some obscure reason :S)**

Jenny's POV 

Oh my god, I can't believe Remus. He is so sweet and so cute. We're just wondering around the grounds of Hogwarts right now, the air is cold and it's biting at my skin and it's too cold to have my hands out. Remus is quite brave, he has his arms around my waist and is pulling me towards him. I swear, I could not have got a better guy if I tried. We've only been dating for less than two months, Christmas will be our two month anniversary, but he's been so sweet. I knew he was the best marauder. I know all about him and his friends. He's a werewolf and his friends are illegal animagi. I was never told about what animals they turn into but if you think about their nicknames for each other you can figure it out easily. Well I could. I used to think they were nonsense names that they just thought up for no apparent reason but they're incredibly clever. 

Moony for Remus because on the full moon he transforms into a werewolf. Padfoot and Prongs, Sirius and James. Sirius is a dog and James is a stag, what colours, I have no idea but still, very clever. Then there's Peter or Wormtail the rat. I don't understand why Peter's a rat while the others are such big and powerful creatures. I read somewhere that the creatures you turn into when you become an animagus reflects the kind of person you are. I get why James and Sirius would be a dog and stag but being a rat is a bit disappointing isn't it? I don't want to know what I'd be like, I know it takes years and years to become an animagi, imagine finally being able to change and discovering the inside you is a smelly old warthog, I would die of embarrassment. As I thought of this I smiled and caught Remus' attention.

"What is it?" He asked gently.

"I was just thinking." I said sweetly, "about your friends turning into Animagi." Remus smiled and pulled me closer.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Well imagine doing all that work and discovering you're something like a warthog or a dung beetle" I said.

"Dung beetles happen to be very strong." Remus said with a chuckle.

"Yeah but still, wouldn't you be a bit disappointed?" I asked him, I looked up into his dreamy eyes, oh, I could just let myself fall into them. He smiled and leaned forwards to kiss me. His warm breath danced on my lips before I felt his lips on my lips. It was only a brief kiss but as usual, it was enough to make me smile.

"Yeah, Peter was a bit annoyed that he was a rat but it's good to have a small creature as well as some big ones." Remus said, "Is that the kind of thing you think about then? Animagi and my friends?" Remus asked with a smile. We stopped and I turned to face Remus, he looked slightly paler then usual, it must be the full moon soon. I touched his face with a gloved hand.

"No, I think about you." I said with a smile. Remus grinned and pulled me closer to him. "And I want to thank you for being the perfect partner at the ball last night." Remus' grin grew.

"I want to thank you for a brilliant night." He said. He leaned forwards and pulled me into a kiss that I didn't want to end. His lips were so soft, his skin was so warm. Remus is so perfect and so wonderful. I felt his hand on my back and his other hand pulling my head closer so that the kiss wouldn't end. So passionate yet so gentle. Why didn't I go out with him before? As the kiss carried on it kind of hit me, holy shit, I think I'm in love! This was enough to make me deepen the kiss with him and he pulled away after a few seconds. He gave me a smile, which I returned, did he return my feelings? I'd have to get April to check him out for me. She had her uses sometimes.

"Wow." I said.

"I know." Remus said with a smile. He got out his wand and flicked his wrist as a bouquet of perfect red roses came out of the end of his wand. "These are for you," He said as he handed me the bouquet. I took them with a smile.

"What's the occasion?" I asked him, I put the flowers to my nose to smell them, I loved the smell of roses, I loved Remus but I wouldn't tell him yet.

"You." Remus said, he suddenly became a bit nervous and slightly fidgety. 

"What's wrong?" I asked him as I looked into his eyes.

"Um, I've been waiting for a while to tell you this, I wasn't sure how you would respond but after last night I just have to tell you." He took one of my hands. "Jenny, I love you." He said. I grinned and pushed myself up on my tip toes and gave him a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"I love you too, Remus" I said against his mouth. I felt his mouth go into a smile as I kissed him again.

"I'm glad that's out." He said relieved, "I've been wanting to tell you that for several weeks now." I moved away and looked at him in amused curiosity,

"Several weeks?" I asked him with a smile. Remus grinned awkwardly. He looked so cute when he did that. I had to admit that I've actually fancied him for quite a while but I hadn't been available until October. 

"Yeah, I just, I don't know-" He said, he couldn't describe his feelings, which was fine with me because it meant his feelings ran too deep for words. I took his hand and we went back up towards the castle, being with Remus made me forget about some of the cold but not all of it and it was started to seep through my numerous layers of clothes.

"When's the next full moon?" I asked Remus, looking at him as we walked back up to the castle. The castle was truly amazing, it didn't really look that big on the outside but it was absolutely huge on the inside. So many rooms, secret passages, and moving staircases, which still bugged the hell out of me. The grounds were huge, the large lake with the giant squid and merpeople, behind us the forbidden forest where there were said to be hundreds of dark creatures. There was also the quidditch pitch, my third favourite place to be, only being beaten by my bed and being with Remus. As the seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team I love being on a broom. Unfortunately Remus gets a bit sick when he gets on a broom so going away for a weekend is out of the question.

"It's, um…" I looked at Remus.

"You don't know when the full moon is?" I asked him.

"No, it's not that it's just that, um, it's over Christmas." He said uncomfortably.

"WHAT!" I shouted him in surprise.

"Jenny, please I can't help it and I really do want to be with you over Christmas but I'm going through my transformation." He said desperately. I wasn't angry with him, well I was a bit, it was Christmas and our anniversary. "I'm sorry." Remus said, slightly upset. "I know you wanted us to be together on Christmas." I looked at him, I had an idea, a very dangerous and stupid idea that could possibly get me killed but I had an idea.

"We will together at least for a while on Christmas day." I said to Remus, forcing a smile on my face. Remus looked at me confused and worried.

"What are you going to do Jenny, I don't want you to get hurt." He said.

"Don't worry, I won't get hurt." I told him, "Trust me, we'll be able to see each other for a little while. Whether you're human or wolf, either one is good enough for me." Remus looked at me. I knew that no one could get near a werewolf without being bitten or killed. I don't know why I was going to do it but I knew I would, but I needed the help of some friends. Not my friends, his friends. "Lets get back to the common room. It's freezing." I told him. He nodded but he wasn't smiling. I don't' think he liked my suggestion very much, I couldn't blame him, if I was in his position I would probably bind me to a chair and not let me free until after the full moon but he didn't have that kind of power over me. I was still better then him at magic though not by much

When we entered the common room I was hit by a wave of heat. I immediately stripped off my cloak and my jacket. Remus did the same and he took my things and put them on a table before coming over and giving me a weak smile. I looked around the common room. April was nowhere to be seen, though I could have sworn she had been lying lazily on the sofa earlier but no. On the sofa were none other then James and Lily. Lily's head on his shoulder and I think she was crying.

"Lily?" I said uncertainly approaching her. Lily got up and looked at me, her eyes were slightly red and very slightly puffy.

"Oh god, Jenny, you have to speak to April for me. I've done something really bad and it's really hurt April." She said desperately. I looked from Lily to James to Lily again. Why was James with Lily? Lily hated him.

"What is it?" I asked her. I felt Remus' hold on my hand tightened.

"I started dating James." She said quickly. She sounded as though she was bracing herself to have a string of insults thrown at her. I looked at her confused, at least it explained why Lily wasn't cursing him.

"Why's that bad. I'm actually kind of glad, it means no more arguments between you and we can have peace an solitude at last-"

"Jenny, April's angry with me because I've been seeing James behind her back and she's been desperate to date Sirius but hasn't." Lily said

"Why not?" I asked her. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Two weeks." James said. I nodded, since the masked ball, made sense in a way. I'd known that Lily had wondered off with James though I thought that she'd ditched him and found someone else.

"But remember that promise about the no dating Sirius and James?" Lily asked. I nodded. "Well April's hurt that I broke the promise and I'm really sorry but she won't speak to me."

"But that was a stupid promise, I completely ignored it." I said. Lily looked at me sadly.

"I know but April. I don't think she's hurt that I broke that particular promise, more that she's hurt that I broke a promise and went behind her back." Lily said. I sighed and looked at Remus.

"I'll see you later." I said before I kissed him.

"Ok, don't do anything stupid ok." Remus said.

"I'm not one of those types." I smiled and walked towards the girls dorms with the bouquet of roses in my hand.

"I love you Jenny." Remus said. That phrase made me feel kind of warm all on the inside, I turned and walked up the steps backwards. 

"Love you to moony." I said with a grin. Remus smiled and turned to Lily and James, who were looking at us slightly confused but happy at the same time. I blew Remus a kiss and then went up the stairs. I went into the dorm room and saw April sitting at the window staring out.

"Are you trying to catch a cold?" I asked her as I put the bouquet of flowers down and reached over her to close the window. She looked away from the window and looked at her knees.

"No." She muttered. She was so pale and when I reached to touch her hand her skin was freezing. I quickly took off my gloves.

"Shit April. Get down from there." I said as I quickly put my gloves over April's hands and helped her down from the windowsill. She winced slightly as she got down.

"Ow." She muttered as she stood up. "My legs are frozen." She said.

"I'm not surprised." I said. I led her to her bed and she looked at it fearfully. "Come on, you have to warm up." I ordered her, "Get into the bed." She was wearing her usual, jeans and a t-shirt but I don't think it was the clothes that made her reluctant to get into the bed. She looked at me fearfully, I'd never seen her look so scared.

"No, I don't want to-to-" She stopped and glanced at the bed. I frowned and sat her down on my own bed. She had started shivering and I pulled my duvet around her tightly so that she would warm up.

"What happened?" I asked April as her shivering started to stop and she looked slightly less pale.

"Nothing." April said quietly. I sat down next to her and brushed her hair out of the way.

"Lily told me what happened. I want to hear your side." Jenny said. April looked at me.

"What did she tell you?" April asked, her voice suddenly vicious and cold, "that she's back stabber, goes back on her promises, doesn't trust me enough to-"

"She said she's sorry" I told April. "It was a stupid promise, April."

"That's not the point." April muttered, her voice back to how it was before, "She broke a promise and then went behind my back to break it. Why didn't she just tell me? Do you know how much I like Sirius and Lily didn't even like James until the ball and I've had to stop myself from dating Sirius for months now and she just goes and dates James without even liking him before." April said. I pulled April into a hug. Her face was still freezing cold so I took my scarf off as well and wrapped it around her neck.

"Thanks." April said. I gave her a weak smile.

"You going to talk to Lily now?" I asked her.

"No." April said. "See how she can cope without me." Her voice getting colder.

"You know a Gryffindor's most prized quality is loyalty to their friends." I said to April. I really didn't want April and Lily to fall out. They were so close it would be wrong for them to have an argument and fall out, and over boys! One of the classic, most pathetic excuse to fall out with your friends.

"I'm still loyal to you." April said. I sighed and kissed April's forehead.

"You want to sleep in my bed for a bit, seeing as you're obviously too scared to sleep in your bed." April nodded. "I'll check on you later, I think you are going to get a cold." April shrugged like she didn't care.

"Who cares?" She said. I sighed and stood up.

"Talk to you later." I said. She nodded and I left the dorm room. My two best friends couldn't break up and fall out. They were friends before I had joined them and that was in our first year. This was now our final year of Hogwarts, they couldn't fall out now. We'd all been through so much while growing up, they couldn't even possibly think of throwing it all away, could they? No, they're just being immature, yes Lily has broken a promise but she's done that before and April's broken promises before. What makes this time so different? Because guys are involved, why do boys have such an effect on us girls? They drive us to ruin friendships and bitch at each other. I swear we don't do that to boys, our effect on boys are simple, they lust after us. Merlin's beard my friends are so immature!

*    *    *    *

Ah, Christmas day, the day of giving, forgiving, starting afresh and my two month anniversary of being with a werewolf who is currently stuck in the middle of his transformation. It's been a week since Lily and April last spoke to each other, they have shouted at each other a few times but that's about it. The tension is awful, I swear this started off as one thing and has turned into something completely different. This is why James, Sirius and myself have decided to do something about it. I sat on a sofa in the common room scratching the head of a playful large black dog who I've named Fluffy. James is sitting next to me, frowning over the dog's latest attempt to knock over Peter. The boy sitting on his own in a chair just next to the sofa. The fourth marauder. He's a little podgy but that doesn't matter really that much. It kinda suits the look he's going for…whatever that is. His eyes are a little watery and he seems to love James. I have to admit, looking at him now, I can kinda see where the whole Rat thing comes from. His face does have a slightly rat like quality to it.

"You ready for some exercise Fluffy?" I asked the dog. The dog nods his head and I grin. "Go and fetch April." The dog bounded off up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and luckily the steps don't turn into a slide. I've been thinking over the past few days. The stairs to the girl's dorm don't let boys up but Sirius, James and Peter have a way of getting around that. Just because boys can't get up doesn't mean animals cant. So all they need to do is transform and up they go! I just hope that they don't disturb our sleep while they're trying to sneak into our rooms though.

"What about Lily?" Peter asked, "She's not here."

"She'll be here soon." James said, "She's just sent a note to her parents to say thanks for her present." And as if on cue my red haired best friend comes into the common room.

"Lily." I said as I looked over the sofa.

"Jenny." She said back with a smile. Looking at her you would never think she'd just fallen out with her best friend.

"Come here, I need your help" I said. Lily smiled and sat down between me and James.

"Hi." James said with a grin. Lily grinned back and let him kiss her on the lips. It was still a bit weird seeing them together after what? Six, seven years of fighting and bickering and bitching.

"How may I be of assistance?" Lily asked, turning to me. Her green eyes glittering in the firelight.

"Do you mind if I try something on you?" I asked her.

"It depends what it is, Jenny." She said.

"Oh, it's nothing really." I said casually. Lily looked at me.

"Ok." Lily said after a few minutes. 

"Great." James said with a smile. He flicked his wand and ropes came out and bound Lily where she was so she couldn't move.

"Hey!" Lily snapped annoyed, "What are you doing!" She turned to James and then turned to me annoyed.

"Silencio." I said pointing my wand at Lily. Lily tried to talk back but after realising there was no point she settled for glaring at James and I. There was a slight tumbling at the stairs as April came down with Fluffy, otherwise known as padfoot to the marauders, running around her feet.

"Where did this dog come from?" April asked as she grabbed some fur and stopped Padfoot from running around.

"Oh, he's mine." I said. "Come here fluffy." I called. Padfoot came running to me barking and put his front paws on my legs. "You're a good boy." I turned to James and nodded. He flicked his wand and April was bound in ropes as well. Padfoot ran to catch her before she hit the floor and dragged her to the sofa.

"James! Jenny!" she said annoyed. She looked at the sofa and saw Lily in a similar state just looking anywhere but her. "What's going on?" She asked. James lifted April onto the sofa as I silenced her.

"James, Peter, Sirius and I are sick of you two not talking," I said to the two girls that had been best friends until a few days ago.

"And we're taking some action, now we have some stuff to do and when we come back, which will probably be this evening, we want you to have settled your problems." James said sternly. Lily and April were both glaring daggers at him, I smirked slightly, they looked so funny. Padfoot jumped on the sofa and sniffed April and licked her face. April looked at the dog and was about to say something when she remembered she was silenced. 

"Ok, I'm going to lift the spells I have put on you, you better not ask anyone to untie you because they can't. Only James can untie you." I said. "Finite incantatum." I was immediately met with an onslaught of sound from both of them.

"Jenny you're supposed to be my friend, I don't want to talk to her!" Lily was saying while April was shouting-

"Jenny, let me go right now! I don't want to waste my time with her, let me go!" James rolled his eyes and looked at me. I gave him a shrug.

"Lets go then." He said. I nodded and Peter got up slowly from his seat and followed us out.

"Come on Fluffy." I shouted. Padfoot barked, gave both Lily and April a lick on the face before jumping over the back of the sofa and running to us.

Five minutes later James, Sirius and I were under his invisibility cloak by the Whomping Willow. I didn't really know where we were going, I was putting my life completely in their hands. The marauders had been a bit reluctant at first to let me see Remus but after some persuasion and bribes I managed to get them to do what I wanted. Remus didn't know of course and I'd already told James to tell my sister Lee, who was a Ravenclaw fifth year, that she could have most of my things should I die. I didn't think I would, in fact I wasn't that nervous about coming face to face with a werewolf. I thought that if I would ever meet a werewolf I would run off scared but that obviously wasn't happening. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sirius asked me as we watched wormtail scrambled up the trunk of the whomping willow. I nodded.

"I want to see Remus." I said resolutely, "It's Christmas and it's our anniversary." Sirius nodded.

"Ok, Prongs and I will make sure that you're safe. But I'll warn you that Moony has a thing for blood." Sirius said. I smiled at him. I'd never seen Sirius so concerned about anything. James looked at him.

"You weren't this concerned when you tried to kill Snape." He said. Sirius shrugged.

"Jenny's different isn't she though?" Sirius said. I looked at Sirius.

"You tried to kill Snape?" I asked him. Sirius shrugged.

"He got a bit curious about Moony, James saved him, don't know why though, would have been doing the world a favour."

"Sirius, it doesn't matter if it was Snape or Lily or Jenny, no one should be tricked into seeing Moony on a full moon!" James scolded. I looked at Sirius slightly amazed, I knew the boys hated Snape but I would have never thought that they would try and kill him. The whomping willow suddenly froze and James threw a rock at it. It didn't respond.

"Lets go." James said. He went to the roots of the tree and kicked at some dirt, "Through here, come on." He said, I approached and James helped me through a hole in the roots. I landed on the dirt ground of the tunnel just behind James and I watched as a rat scrambled through the hole the Sirius with the invisibility cloak in his hands. I already knew about all of their little gadgets and magical items, the invisibility cloak, the map and their mirror. Remus had told me everything in confidence though it annoyed the rest of the marauders, I felt slightly proud that they all trusted me with their secrets. Sirius quickly turned into padfoot and ran ahead of us to the end of the tunnel with wormtail following him closely. James stayed with me and looked at me uncertainly.

"Are you really sure you want to see Moony?" James asked.

"You concerned about what Lily would say?" I asked him back. I smiled and James smiled awkwardly.

"She would get annoyed with me if something happened to you." James said.

"Don't worry." I said. James nodded we walked to the end of the tunnel and James turned to look at me.

"Ok, don't use any magic in front of Moony, don't make and sudden movements and you're not bleeding or have any blood anywhere do you?" James asked, going red slightly.

"My period ended two weeks ago." I reassured James. He nodded quickly and went up through the exit. He held his hand down and I took it and went through after him. As soon as I got out of the tunnel I could smell the area I was in. I looked around. The place was very dark, it seemed to be an old house that was dusty and had broken furniture everywhere. There was a musky smell of animals, like there were some who lived here and I could hear a bark above me and some crashing, a trickle of dust fell from the ceiling and landed on James' shoulder.

"He can smell us." James said, looking up. I looked up as well as the crashing went towards the left of the room. James quickly turned into a large beautiful stag and stood in front of me, almost protectively. If Lily could have seen Prongs she would have been speechless. Maybe quite annoyed but speechless that her boyfriend could be more handsome then he already was. There was a crashing that sounded like something falling down the stairs and the door was broken down. Padfoot was growling at a large wolf like creature. I gasped as the werewolf snarled at Padfoot and looked past him straight at me. He was bigger then a usual wolf and all the characteristics we had been taught that identified a werewolf I could see. The wolf ran forwards but padfoot jumped and fought him to the ground. I took a step back in fear and Prongs lowered his head. I felt something brushing my hand and looked to see Peter standing next to me.

"Maybe you should leave, he's a bit restless" He stammered. He looked quite pale and he quickly turned back into a rat again. I looked at Moony and despite him being a blood lusting werewolf I still felt love for him. He was just another part of Remus, a more dangerous part true, but still just another part. Suddenly my fear seemed to leave me and I just stared at the wolf that was fighting Padfoot. I went to Prongs and put my hand on his back. The stag turned it's head to look at me.

"I want to touch him." I said quietly. If it was possible Prongs looked quite surprised, I think it was the eyes but he nodded and looked at Padfoot. Padfoot stopped fighting Moony and panted slightly as he growled at Moony. Moony growled at them and I began to walk forwards slowly, not making any sudden movements and making sure my wand was safely away. Prongs moved forwards with me, as an escort and soon I was only a few feet away from the werewolf. Moony was looking at me, the fury in his face and eyes still evident but he looked like he recognised me. I slowly reached a hand out and took another step forwards. Padfoot took a few steps forwards ready to attack Moony if he needed to but I knew that Moony wouldn't hurt me.

"Hi Remus." I whispered. "I promised you we'd be together today and here I am." The wolf stood up and took a few steps forwards until his snout touched the palm of my hand. Padfoot stopped growling as loudly and prongs seemed to tense slightly. I gently put my other hand on the top of Moony's head and stroked him gently. The wolf moved forwards a bit more, like a huge pet dog, and nudged me in the stomach. I let out a small laugh and the wolf let out a sort of amused howl. I saw Padfoot and prongs look at each other uncertainly. I had to admit, I felt a little confused myself. Werewolves were supposed to attack humans. Anyone who got near them tended to either winds up dead or turning into wolves themselves.

I couldn't believe I was actually in the same house as a werewolf, I was touching one without being attacked. I wondered if Remus knew what was going on, that he wasn't the vicious, unforgiving creature that he made himself out to be. Maybe he was like that sometimes but he certainly wasn't like that now. I lowered myself to my knees and Moony lay on the floor and rested his head on my lap. I looked up at Prongs and Padfoot who were standing around apprehensively.

"Thanks." I said to them with a smile. Padfoot gave me one of those playful Doggy grins and barked happily.

_He doesn't normally do that, Remus must really love you for you to be able to tame the wolf._  I heard James' head in my head. I looked at Prongs surprised.

_We can communicate telepathically, it's really useful because we can't talk in animal form._  Sirius said to me. I smiled and let Moony put one of his huge paws on my legs as well. This was slightly surreal to me, I as sitting here with a werewolf, like it was my pet, talking to some animals, who were supposed to be my best friends boyfriends. And I was touching a werewolf! I just couldn't get over that, a werewolf, they were the most feared and hated creatures, well other then dementors, and here I was with a werewolf that honestly wasn't that bad. I smiled and rested against the wall I was leaning against. Prongs lay down as well, his head held high and proud, just like James, I thought. Padfoot was now sniffing the floor and Womrtail was in Prong's antlers fast asleep. I let out a chuckle as I put each of these characteristics with the people they were supposed to be.

_Sun is starting to rise, I reckon we should start getting back_ Said Peter's voice in my head.

_Wasn't last night the last night of transformation? Lets stay a bit longer and surprise Remus._ said Sirius' voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked them. I had had a bit of sleep during the night, Moony had let me rest my head on his back for a while but I had been woken up when Moony got up to wonder around the room for a bit.

_Remus is a wolf for three nights, last night was the final night so as soon as the sun rises he'll be Remus again._ Said James' voice. There was a few seconds of silence in my head, _I wonder how April and Lily are doing?_ I laughed and I saw Padfoot give a dog like grin.

"They better be friends or I'll have to kill myself." I said. Prongs looked at me and gave what I guessed must be a smile.

_I'm sure they've worked it out._ Sirius said,

_Hey guys, Moony. _ Wormtail said. Prongs, Padfoot and I all turned to look at Moony who had suddenly stopped and was shaking slightly. I got to my feet quickly as he let out a growl and started to attack himself.

"What's going on?" I asked the animals that were with me. Prongs stood up and stood in front of me as I watched the wolf slowly turn back into a human. The transformation looked and sounded painful. If the wolf wasn't howling, Remus was screaming in pain. I just wanted to go to his side and try and ease the pain but Prongs was stopping me, I couldn't bear to see Remus in so much pain. After a few minutes, though it seemed like a life time, Remus fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. Padfoot was the first to change back into a human.

"You alright?" Sirius asked Remus, helping him to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm-" Remus turned and saw me standing behind James, who was fully human now. "What are you doing here?" He asked me, his voice a mixture of emotions. I just smiled and ran to him, putting my arms around his neck.

"You're ok, that's the main thing." I said to him. I felt his arms go around me tightly, Remus looked at his friends for an explination.

"What happened last night, did I hurt you?" Remus asked, his voice full of worry as he pushed me away slightly and looking into my eyes. I smiled and shook my head.

"I'm perfectly fine." I told him with a smile, "You didn't do anything." Remus looked at me like he didn't believe me.

"She's telling the truth." Sirius said, "You were a good werewolf. Didn't go fighting anyone last night." Remus looked at James and Peter for confirmation. They both nodded.

"You love her more then you think." James said with a smile. Remus looked at me very relieved and pulled me into another, even tighter hug.

"Never do that again." Remus whispered, I think I felt something damp against my cheek, like a tear. I pulled away and looked at Remus, a few tears had fallen down his face, I frowned, why was he crying? Was he upset that I was alive or something?

"Tears?" I asked him.

"I'm just so happy you're ok." Remus said. The boys all smiled at each other and Sirius summoned some robes.

"You might want to put these on mate." Sirius said handing Remus the robes. That's when I actually noticed and realised that Remus was completely naked. Slightly alarmed I went red and turned around, as any respectable girl would go.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said quickly. Sirius and James both laughed as Peter chuckled. I guessed Remus must have been smiling slightly.

"It's fine." He said, "I have nothing to hide from you anyway." I smiled to myself. I opened my mouth and screamed silently. My god I LOVE that boy more then anything!

**Ok, here's where you get to choose who's POV you read next, I personally would prefer if you chose peter but that's purely for writing reasons. So here are your choices mes amis**

**a) ****Peter and the Deatheaters.**

**b) ****Sirius and Valentine's day**

**c) ****Remus and the Full moon**

I would advise against voting for James, coz he's having the last chapter so DO NOT VOTE FOR HIM!! Voting ends on Thursday.


	4. The Mind Of A Rat

A/N:-Votes for Peter and Sirius were even. So I put up Peter because he's more difficult to write and I wanted to get him up and out of the way quickly. ~*~*~*~*~ Peter's POV 

I don't know how much longer I can cope. That stinking mudblood is around all the time, her and her friends, it's pulling the Marauders apart, James is never on his own anymore and is always spending his time with that mudblood. Sirius is always including April in all the jokes and pranks we plan and Jenny always comes with us on the full moons. I want it to be how it used to be, just us and the girls. Not mixed together, it's no fun anymore, the excitement that came from the increasing tension between James and the Mudblood is gone. She had her uses, she was a good form of entertainment. Urgh, looked at her staring at me like that, she's going to ask me a question isn't she. I guess I'll have to be nice to her, she is James' girlfriend and even if she is polluting his mind.

"We need to get you a girlfriend." She said, turning to April. "Do we know any available girls?" April smirked.

"Jessica." April said.

"Nice single girls." Lily said with a smile. The girls all starting laughing. Ok, even if Lily was a filthy mudblood and her friends were just as worse but they are really very beautiful. Lily has the brains which I suppose is an asset but I don't understand why she had to get them, why a mudblood but Jenny's also got brains probably from her Chinese heritage, her sister is in Ravenclaw after all and her brother was in Ravenclaw when he was at school. The Chinese are very clever, but why did the mudblood get the brains as well? Now April, she's a whole different kind of girl all together, she isn't clever, she isn't smart or tactful but she is witty and has a body that any guy will do anything to get a piece of. I have to admit to fancying her at some point as well as Lily, there was a point where I've fancied each member of the group my friends are dating and I plead temporary insanity for it.

"No, it's fine, I'm happy on my own." I lied, well I'm not on my own. My girlfriend is Kiana Darcy in Slytherin, we keep our relationship under wraps because a Slytherin dating a Gryffindor is like blasphemy or something to the house codes and unsaid rules of Hogwarts. 

"Maybe Lee would be interested." April said referring to Jenny's younger sister. Jenny looked at April slightly confused, having just finished sucking face with Remus, since their Christmas thing anyone would think that they're a married couple, they're that inseparable. I don't think it helps that Moony is easier to handle when Jenny is in the shrieking shack with us. It's like April and Jenny are becoming female marauders, taking the place of James, who's becoming more and more law abiding, no doubt the Mudblood's influence. Look at them, all snug together while it rains outside.

"It's ok, honestly, I'm meeting someone in Hogsmeade tomorrow" I told the others. The girls all looked at me interestedly.

"Go Peter!" James shouted.

"You old dog you." Remus said with a grin.

"Hey, that's me, I'm the dog." Sirius said pretending to be angry.

"He is as well but a better behaved dog then you. I swear, the things I go through to hide those damned love bites you give me." April said annoyed, "Merlin, they are so difficult to hide with a glamour. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit gentler with me. If you give me any more I'm going to turn into a freaking leapord."

"That's can be arranged." Sirius said getting out his wand, he got a cold glare from April in return. Jenny looked at April with a sudden understanding on her face.

"So that's why you wear the scarf." Jenny said. April nodded and put her hand fondly to the silk scarf that was wrapped around her neck. I had noticed she did have a few dark patches on the perfect skin on her neck.

"I know you love them." Sirius said, nuzzling her neck. April lifted her head slightly to let him get to her neck.

"I know." April said as Sirius kissed her neck gently.

"Please, get a room you two." Lily said. April grinned and looked at her best friend. Tying them up and forcing them to talk to each other at Christmas had gotten them to get past their problems and they were now just as close as they had been before.

"You two are just as bad." April said.

"No we're not, at least we get a room or somewhere more private." Lily said indignantly. James laughed and pulled Lily closer.

"That's true, I'm so sorry." April pushed Sirius away from her. "Bad boy." She said, "Your bed in ten seconds." April said standing up and heading towards the steps to the boys dormitories. Sirius looked up at her and grinned.

"Yes." He said as he ran after her. Jenny rolled her eyes and turned to me.

"So, who are you meeting?" She asked me. 

"Some person." I said. I didn't really want them to know I was dating one of the people my friends fought against. Jenny nodded her head and looked at me sceptically. Why were girls so interested in people's love lives? Didn't they have anything better to do then tearing my friends apart and gossip about others. At least Kiana had her ideas right. She may not have been going about it the right way but she had the right ideas. "It's not who's right or who's wrong, it's about who deserves it and mudbloods like Evans don't." That's what she'd told me a few days ago, she was right. It wasn't about who was right, who was nice and kind or who was pretty or not. Lily wasn't magic born and so she didn't deserve the things she got, she didn't deserve to live. At least four of us here were pure blood and three of us deserved to live. Myself, James and Sirius. Remus was also alright but he was half mudblood, it didn't matter how magical or pure his father's side of the family was, his mother was a mudblood and therefore he wasn't completely worth the life he lived but the monthly torture he went through during his transformations gave me some piece of mind.

I know I shouldn't be thinking about my friends like this. They had been nothing but kind to me since I first arrived, they had befriended me when no one else had. They had included me in the forming of the Marauders, helped me become an animagi, I was a bit annoyed that I was a rat but I've grown to accept it and it's quite useful sometimes. It's very interesting listening to the girl's conversations. They're dirtier then Sirius is and that's really saying something. Since Jenny realised that animals could get up the stairs to the girl's dormitories I've been up to listen to their conversations. Jenny is surprisingly loyal to Remus. It turns out that Lily and April still have absolutely no idea about him and they've asked Jenny several times about where she keeps going on a full moon. 

There was one time when April was worried that Sirius was cheating on her with Jenny. That made me laugh so much that I squeaked as a mouse, causing the girls to spot me and start screaming. I never knew that April was scared of rats and Jessica fainted, which was a sight that I'll never forget. Listening to their conversations isn't the only reason I go up to spy on the girls. The seventh year girls have surprisingly amazing bodies, not that I'm a pervert or anything but I'm an eighteen year old boy, I can't help it. James and Sirius would be doing exactly the same thing if they could, well James not so much, he didn't come on the last full moon because Lily wanted to spend the night with him. Before he would have come regardless of what a girl said. I guess that the years he's spent chasing the mudblood was actually fuelled by proper real feelings. I thought it was just another one of his attempts to get another girl into bed with him, not that he's slept with that many girls, that's just a rumour that many people have made up.

"I'm tired." Lily said, stretching her arms. James wrapped his arms around her thin waist and I think I saw him touching her breast for a few seconds before kissing her. I watched to see if Lily noticed James' hand, if she did she didn't make any indication to show that she was bothered or anything. James was so lucky, he was so cool around girls and he could do anything to them without them arguing against it…well any girl but Lily.

"You want to spend the night with me?" He asked.

"James, the other night was a one off. The girls dorm was freezing." Lily said to him. Jenny and Remus looked at them.

"What actually happened by the way?" Jenny asked, "You never told me." Lily smiled.

"We slept with each other." James said. Jenny's eyes widened in surprise.

"Not like that." Lily said, "James is too much of a gentleman to force me to do anything before I'm ready and before I've told him I love him." Lily told us.

"Do you?" James asked hopefully, "Love me?" Lily gave him a smile.

"I'll tell you if you're a good boy at Hogsmeade tomorrow" Lily said giving him a kiss on his chin. James pouted.

"But I love you." James said.

"I know James." Lily said turning around in his arms and putting her head on his chest. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I hated public displays of affection. They were just so…disgusting, not everyone wanted to see their friends getting off with each other all the time.

"Want to go to bed Lily?" Jenny asked her. Lily nodded.

"If Sirius was here you would get so much stick, he's still convinced you and April are gay lovers." Remus said with a smile. Lily laughed.

"I don't think it helps that April and I keep hugging and kissing each other's cheeks does it?" Lily asked.

"No it doesn't." Remus said chuckling.

"But you know, if you and April ever feel like giving us a private show-" James started to say before getting hit in the chest by his girlfriend.

"Come on Jenny." Lily said getting up. "Let us to bed." Lily's serious face broke into laughter and Jenny nodded.

"Yes, lets." Jenny said.

"Sorry but it's just not the same with you two." James said, "No offence Jenny"

"None taken, I'm glad you don't see me as the gay one." Jenny said. "I'm all Remus's, forever and ever." She said with a smile. Remus grinned.

"You sure?" Remus asked keeping hold of Jenny's hand as Jenny stood up.

"Yes." Jenny said, she leaned over and gave Remus a kiss. "See you tomorrow." She said with a smile.

"Come on Jenny, I'm tired." Lily said, "And I'm not going up there on my own with Jessica and Fran up there."

"Why are you scared?" I asked Lily.

"No, not really but Jessica has taken to cursing me." Lily said. "Why is it that I'm the one that gets picked on, is it because I'm a muggle born or something?" yes.

"No." I said. James took her hand.

"You want me to sort out Jessica?" James asked her.

"No, she hasn't succeeded yet." Lily said.

"She tried to stun her last night." Jenny said then smiled. 

"What happened?" James asked concerned. Jenny and Lily both smiled.

"Lets say that Jessica was too embarrassed to come down today." Lily said with a grin.

"What did you do?" Remus asked the head girl fairly amused.

"Well, I reflected the spell she sent me, April made Jessica grow a monkey's tail out of her arse and Jenny-" Lily and Jenny looked at each other.

"I made sure that her boyfriend will not want to kiss her." Jenny said. Lily put a hand to her chin.

"Do you think that maybe that super spot removal cream will come in handy?" Lily asked Jenny.

"I think we'll get it for her birthday present." Jenny said, her face breaking into a smile. The boys, including me all started laughing. "Well, night." Jenny and Lily both headed up to their rooms.

"Well, lets get to sleep." Remus said.

"Not with April and Sirius making out up there, Merlin knows what they get up to." I said. Remus sat down again.

"You're right, lets stay down here for a while." Remus said laughing, James laughed as well as they got out a chess board.

*    *    *    *

I held onto Kiana's hand tightly. She turned to me and smiled. Her long blonde hair was blown away from her face in the cold wind of the day. Her eyes were an icy blue and her smile was incredibly pretty. If Slytherins smiled more they'd all be ok I reckon. Kiana was a relatively ok Slytherin, in the same year as Narcissa Black. Sirius' cousin. That's actually the same year as us, so year, she's the same age as me. 

"Come on, I swear, you'll love the meeting. It's for people like us." Kiana said taking my other hand as well and facing me. She was incredibly nice for a Slytherin, maybe they weren't as bad as they seemed to be, I personally only really had Severus Snape to go by. I smiled at her and she grinned at me. She stopped and put her arms around my neck and gave me a light kiss on the lips. Yep, this girl wasn't a whore like the rest of the Slytherin girls, but she was a highly respected Slytherin.

"What kind of meeting is it?" I asked her. She let go of my neck and brushed my hair with her hands.

"For people who don't think Mudbloods should be in Hogwarts." She said quietly. "Come on." We started walking again and we went down a path that went down behind the shrieking shack and to a small wooded area. There was a small clearing that we came to and there were already some students there as well as some older people who I vaguely recognised wearing dark robes.

"Hello Darcy, who's this?" asked one of the older people. He looked at me, he had cold stony grey eyes and platinum blond hair that was completely sleeked back. He was sitting next to Narcissa Black, who was holding his hand.

"Why did you bring him here, you know who his friends are." Snapped Jessica Lowe, who I was surprised to see. She had a few spots on her face, not as bad as I imagined from what Lily and Jenny had said.

"Nice face Lowe, what happened? Run in with buboter pus?" Kiana asked coldly. Jessica glared at her.

"Evans and her friends." Said Jessica, "They had the nerve to hex me."

"That's not what I heard." I said to Jessica. Jessica looked at me coldly.

"What, did she tell you that I curse her first, that's so typical of her. Everything has to be about her. Just because she's head girl and she's dating Potter!" She snapped.

"Quiet." Said the man with blonde hair. I suddenly remembered who he was. Lucious Malfoy, he left Hogwarts two years ago. He got up and walked over to me, he was quite a bit taller then I was. "Will you be running off to Dumbeldore and telling him that some of his precious students are plotting against him?" He asked.

"I want the Mudbloods dead as much as you and I have a way of listening in on the good side, as I'm a member of the _Marauders_" I told him. "Dumbledore trusts me." Malfoy stared at me as if regarding me.

"He's right, Dumbledore loves him and his group of friends." Said a girl I recognised as a Hufflepuff. I think her name is Hilary, she's a seventh year prefect and sometimes hangs around with Jessica and Fran between classes.

"He can get some inside information and keep an eye on Evans for us." Kiana said, trying to convince Malfoy.

"Maybe they have a point." Said the woman who had been sitting next to Narcissa. She had long black hair, like Narcissa and had dark, cold eyes. Bellatrix Lestrange, she had recently gotten married to some guy named Rudolphus, she was Narcissa's sister and therefore Sirius' other cousin. "Our Lord may want us to try and keep an eye on then, you know how he likes to keep an eye on my dear cousin and the Potters." She said looking at Malfoy. Malfoy looked at her and then back at me. His eyes boring into my head.

"Very well. You can attend this meeting. We will talk to the dark lord after the meeting but if we find that you give away any of us to the Mudblood Lover Dumbledore we'll have you killed." Malfoy said to me, pointing his wand at my chest. 

"You don't have to worry about that." I told him confidently. 

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"Peter Pettigrew." I told him. He nodded and sat down next to Narcissa, she didn't look like she wanted to be there, I knew she despised mudbloods but she never struck me as one who'd actually take any action.

"What are our orders?" asked Hilary.

"Keep an eye out on the mudbloods, as usual. We have plans for Potter so Pettigrew, if you make sure that Potter doesn't go sniffing into our affairs, Snape is doing a good job of keeping him distracted."

"So is Evans." Jessica said. 

"You don't need to worry about James, Lily has him so blind to the outside world he won't notice. She's the only thing in his world." I told them. It was true, the way Lily had him wrapped around her finger like a ribbon. He followed her everywhere like a faithful puppy and did everything she wanted.

"Good. Where are the others?" Lestrange asked.

"Snape has got the flu and Reg has detention with McGonagall" said Hilary, absently curling a lock of hair around her finger.

"Ok," Malfoy said taking everything in. "Jessica, you have a new assignment." Jessica straightened in anticipation. "Clean up your face." Malfoy said. Everyone snickered or giggled as Jessica looked at him annoyed. Malfoy gave her a cold smirk.

"I've tried everything, these spots wont go. Chang has really been getting on my nerves recently." Jessica said, "You won't believe how many times I shower myself, I share a room with them and all they ever talk about is work, family and friends, you'd think they'd have something better to talk about and Evans-" Jessica shivered like the mere thought of her disgusted her. "Don't even get me started on her." I smirked.

"Imagine what it's like to see her get off with one of my friends all the time." I told her.

"I pity you Pettigrew." Jessica said. I gave her a smile, Kiana took my hand and put her head on my shoulder. Jessica and Hilary both looked at each other curiously as they saw this.

"Nott, you finally sorted out your issues with Snape? We need you two to attack Evans for us." Malfoy said. "The Dark Lord is worried with how powerful that Mudblood is getting." Nott was a Slytherin in my year, I didn't really like him very much and he had the intelligence of a two year old. How he managed to fall out with Snape was beyond me because they were never friends in the first place. Snape was a loner, he had no friends, he was the butt of everyone's joke, though I knew that could have easily been me if I'd had gone into Slytherin, which I very nearly did. I still remember the Sorting hat's words as clearly as if it was on my head. "Yes, I see there is some loyalty in you, you may do well in Gryffindor but there's also a thirst for power, a greed that wants to be satisfied, maybe you could thrive in Slytherin, a very difficult decision, Gryffindor and Slytherin, so different and yet so similar. Ah, only time will tell. Gryffindor!"

"I still gotta beat the crap outta that little shit and we'll be on good terms again." Nott said in his usual unintelligent drawl.

"Good." Malfoy said. "Now, um, Gryffindor boy, I want you to give us updates on everything that happens between that group of yours. The dark lord has some concerns about them." I nodded. I didn't completely understand why Kiana had brought me here but I might as well go along with it. It was a group for people who hated Mudbloods like Evans.

"Now, I think you should all get going before anyone gets suspicious." Everyone nodded and I got up then helped Kiana up. "Oh, Gryffindor boy." Said Lestrange. I turned to look at her, everyone was looking. "Don't you dare betray us. Lowe will be watching." I looked at Jessica, who smiled smugly.

"Her or the spots?" I said as I looked back at Lestrange. Jessica's smile disappeared. I never liked Jessica, we never got along and it felt good insulting her. Kiana smirked coldly, as did a few other people.

"You're not as dumb as you look" Lestrange said, "Don't betray us." She said pushing a finger against my chest before apparating away with a loud crack. Malfoy disappeared as well and Narcissa stood up and brushed her skirt.

"Well, we better go. One at a time." She said with a sigh. Jessica left immediately, not giving anyone a choice. No one seemed to like except maybe Fran or Hilary. Nott grinned at me.

"Good going Pettigrew." He said. "got her good."

"Thanks." I said with a smile.

"Her face was all clear yesterday, what happened?" Hilary asked curiously. She pulled all her hair over one shoulder and looked at me. I didn't have that much attention here but I'd never had all this attention on me on my own. I always had James, Remus or Sirius with me. I kinda liked this.

"She got hexed by the wonder girls." I said. 

"Evans?" Kiana asked. I nodded.

"Well, if I remember rightly, it was Chang that did that specific hex on Jessica." I said. I saw everyone's faces break out into smiles.

"Jessica's a bitch anyway." Hilary said.

"Why do you hang out with her then?" I asked her.

"Because it's our assignment. You think I hang around with her willingly?" She asked. "No one in their right mind would actually be friends with her besides she's incredibly jealous of Evans." Hilary said dismissively. "I'm going, I have to meet Jason in a few minutes."

"Who's Jason?" Narcissa asked her.

"Good for nothing Ravenclaw boy, thinks he can get into my knickers." Hilary said.

"That's easy though, you're a total slut" Nott said. Hilary turned to Nott.

"Unless you want to keep certain parts of your body yours I suggest you keep quiet Nott. You weren't that impressive anyway. I've seen a lot better." Hilary said to him. Nott went pale and I saw his hand move automatically to his crotch. 

"Hufflepuffs are supposed to be nice people." Nott said.

"Oh, we're not going to go through this are we?" Hilary asked. "I may be a Hufflepuff but it doesn't make me kind, I was when I was younger but not now" She said slowly as if Nott wouldn't understand him. Kiana laughed and pulled her scarf around her neck tighter. Hilary had a smug smile on her face and she turned to leave the clearing as well.

"You slept with Game?" Narcissa asked Nott in disbelief. She was referring to Hilary, her surname was Game, or I think it is.

"Um, yeah." He said.

"She lowered her standards to you? Either you put a curse on her or she's getting desperate, who in their right mind would date you?" Narcissa asked.

"I would say the same about you but you already have a boyfriend, what did you do Black? Put him under the imperious curse?" Kiana said viciously.

"I'm not the one dating a Gryffindor" Narcissa spat. I reached for my wand but Kiana got to hers first, she turned Narcissa into a pig and smiled.

"Have fun." Kiana said to her. "You can look after her." She said to Nott before taking my hand and leading me away.

"Wow, that was good." I said impressed.

"Transfiguration is my best subject." Kiana said, twirling her wand in her fingers before putting it away.

"I wish I was good at transfiguration, I'm ok at it but you know, I'm not as good as the others" I confessed to Kiana. She turned to me.

"To tell you the truth, I really couldn't care less how you felt, I am a Slytherin and I really don't care for others but I think you should curse the hell out of your friends. I can teach you some of the dark arts if you want." Kiana said. I smiled

"Ok. That'd be great." I said. She grinned and stopped to look around.

"Now, where can we practice that will be slightly private and secluded" Kiana said. She squinted her eyes against the winter sun.

"Private and secluded?" I asked her. I had spent so much time with Sirius and James my mind was nearly as dirty as theirs. Kiana looked at me with a smirk.

"Dark arts not on your mind?" She asked.

"No, dark arts is good" I said quickly. Kiana smiled and took my hand.

"I'll teach you the dark arts, don't worry." Kiana said quiet seductively. I could feel a blush creeping over my neck. I wasn't really known for getting along well with girls and those I normally went out with dumped me after a few days, I was never as successful with girls as the other three were. I reckon even the Mudblood could have gotten a girl if she really wanted to, but no, she as Marsden and Chang. Kiana looked around the small wooded area and pulled me into a clump of trees.

*    *    *    *

I met the others in the Three Broomsticks. They were sitting where the girls usually sat. They were in a small corner where the wall and the window joined together. There were a few sofas and not enough seats for everyone but Lily and James had solved that problem, with her sitting across his legs and with an arm hooked around his neck.

"Hi."  I said, April moved up and made space for him.

"How was your date?" April asked.

"It went quite well." I said, it did as well. The 'dark arts' practice had turned out to be the best experience I have ever had with a girl, I had to hand it to the Slytherin Girls. They knew how to turn a guy on. That's probably where they got their reputation from though.

"It looks like you enjoyed it." Jenny said cheekily. I looked at her confused, then looked down, was I really showing? Jenny laughed. "No, you have dirt and stuff in your hair and on your face." She said laughing. The girls all giggled slightly while the boys smiled.

"And there's lipstick." Lily said pointing to her chin. I put a hand to my own chin and wiped it.

"Well, it seems like Wormtail is getting more action then James for a change." Sirius said leaning back. James looked at Sirius.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked.

"It means that while Lily has you tied on a leash and preventing you from doing anything fun, Wormtail is getting all the hotties" Sirius said. The reply to this was a mug of Butterbeer being poured over Sirius. April screamed in alarm and got out of the way but still got some butterbeer on her. Sirius stood up.

"You-" He looked at Lily and James, Lily was laughing into James' shoulder and James held an empty mug in his hand.

"Lily does not have me on a leash, I've just decided to be more responsible." James said, I saw his hand slowly going under Lily's shirt and Lily kissed his forehead.

"And you know that I love you." Lily said. James grinned.

"I do now" He said grinning. April rolled her eyes and moved over to sit on the arm of the sofa next to me.

"Why aren't you sitting next to me?" Sirius asked, pouting slightly.

"Because you're soaked in butterbeer." April said like it was obvious. Sirius could be a dick sometimes. Sirius sat down sulkily while April laughed and looked at Jenny. They both burst out laughing even more and April somehow ended up on my lap while she was laughing. I was incredibly aware of her sitting there but she obviously hadn't noticed.

"I'm so surprised that Lily didn't punish James for that." Jenny said.

"Oh I will." Lily said as James decided it was his turn to kiss Lily, "I will punish him for that, just after this." The girls and Remus laughed at that but I didn't find it funny at all. The mudblood was head girl and she was supposed to be setting an example to others, it just proved that under all those layers mudbloods were sluts. I shifted uncomfortably and April turned to look at me.

"Oh, sorry." She said sliding onto the arm of the chair.

"It's fine." I muttered. She gave me a smile and reached over for her butterbeer, careful to keep out of Sirius' reach. Sirius was looking at her carefully like a fox hunting a rabbit.

"What?" April asked him.

"I want you to sit next to me, not next to wormtail, you're my girl." Sirius complained.

"Your girl?" April asked, "I belong to no one."

"So that's why you keep running off with Sirius?" Jenny asked as she leaned against Remus.

"He just happens to be the best thing on offer right now." April said taking a sip of her butterbeer. Sirius looked at her with narrowed eyes. That looked wasn't good, it meant he was about to do something stupid. April looked at him and smirked.

"You are the devil." Sirius said.

"No, I'm the girl who happens to be able to get you to do anything she wants and don't you even try doing what you're thinking." April said. Sirius looked at her surprised.

"How do you know what I'm about to do?" Lily and Jenny both sniggered. I looked at the girls.

"Oh, April has a thing for knowing that kind of thing" Lily said. "James, that's enough now, I'm going to end up like April if you keep kissing me there."

"Oh, now that was an overshare." Jenny said.

"Definitely" I agreed. Lily looked at us sympathetically.

"Sorry, James!" She had to push James away from her neck.

"But Lily-" He pouted. Lily looked at him and sighed.

"Fine" Lily said. She got up and took his hand and they left the Three Broomsticks, James looked a bit eager to be alone with Lily.

"Now I wonder what they will get up to." April said pretending to be thinking.

"What?" I asked her stupidly. April looked at me.

"Hello, they are a couple, James can't keep his hands off her and Lily told him that she loved him today."

"She did? When did this happen?" I asked them.

"Oh, at about lunchtime, James and Lily went off for a walk, when they didn't return we went to find them." Remus explained like it was nothing really out of the ordinary.

"Little did we know that they were in fact really getting to…know each other in a cave in the middle of nowhere" Jenny said.

"Oh, just say it Jenny." April said, "They were making out really heavily and we haven't really been able to get them out of that mood." April smirked, "It's about time Lily found someone who made her feel like that."

"Sure, while she's going out of control James is getting more and more boring." Sirius said sulkily. "I'm going up to the castle to have a shower and get myself changed, does anyone know the password to the prefects bathroom?"

"We do." Jenny said pointing to herself and April. Sirius looked at her.

"You're not a prefect though." I said to her.

"That doesn't stop Lily from telling us passwords." April said with a grin.

"April, tell me." Sirius said with puppy dog eyes. April smiled.

"It's not going to work Sirius." April said, crossing arms. An obvious and open invitation for Sirius to tackle her. I rolled my eyes, sometimes my 'friends' were so immature, could they think of nothing else other then sex and work? What about after Hogwarts, what were they going to do after school? I had that all sorted, I had been welcomed into Voldemort's fold and now there was nowhere else to go but up, and try and keep my new hobby in the dark from them. That Mudblood Evans was going to wish that she'd never become James Potter's girlfriend.

**A/N:-Ok, next vote is between Remus and Sirius. All the votes were taken from ff.net and hpff.com as well as a few votes by email so if the votes don't seem to tally up that's why.**


	5. A Night of Love

Ok, I get that you guys don't like Peter but I wanted him out of the way so that the rest of the POVs can be happier, or as happy as I'll let them. Sorry Remus lovers, he's up after Remus. Got more votes for Sirius then Remus. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Sirius's POV 

Jump over the trick step, slide down the stairway banister, through a secret passage and behind the curtain that hides the Ravenclaw Common room. Right, should be safe here for a while.

"Sirius what are we-" I put a finger to April's mouth, oh it's so soft and lovely.

"Sh." I told her gently.

"You seen that little troublemaker Norris?" Came Filch's evil voice I heard a cat meow. I looked at April, who looked like she was ready to burst out laughing at any minute. Her hair was up, which was unusual for her, and was in a messy ponytail but she had these locks of hair that framed her face in a sort of golden line. "Right, I'm going to talk to the headmaster about him. That's the last time he floods the south passage to the dungeons." I heard Filch walk off and pushed back the tapestry.

"AH!" shouted a girl on the other side of the tapestry.

"AH!" I shouted but not in surprise, I just felt like shouting.

"Sirius, April what are you doing?" she asked. She had long straight black hair and the same oriental eyes as Jenny. She was quite pretty but the prettiest thing in the universe has to be my one and only April.

"We were hiding." April said with a smile.

"From who?" The girl asked.

"Filch, come on April. I want to show you something else." I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her after me.

"Sirius, we've been running around all day, can't we just stop for a while?" April said as she pulled me to a stop. I turned to her and looked at her slightly amazed. She gave me a smile and put her hands around my waist. "I'm getting a bit tired and I can think of better things to do."

"What could be better then pulling pranks?" Sirius asked her. Her face came closer to mine.

"Sitting on your lap with our lips like this-" April said, she kissed my lips lightly, "Or possibly hang out on your bed?" She asked cheekily. Oh boy, this girl is good.

"Ok, lets go." I said pulling her behind me as we ran to the common room. 

"Sirius!" April complained again. "Do we have to run?"

"Yes." I said, turning to give her a cheeky grin. She gave me a tired smile and pulled me to a walking pace.

"Lets walk, just this once, see if you can do that?" April said, giving me a challenge.

"What's the fun in walking?" I asked her, pouting slightly. April gave me a cheeky and suggestive smile that made my insides go all funny. Why could April do that? Every time she wanted her way she would give me that smile and I would do anything she wanted. Sirius Black NEVER did anything anyone wanted except maybe if James asked really nicely and gave me a sweet.

"If you continue to run, I won't kiss you for a week," April said, letting me put an arm around her slender waist. Oh, she's so beautiful, she's so pretty and wonderful. I love her so much, well I think it's love, She gave me another smile and I could just feel everything spinning, yep, definitely love.

"So, tomorrow is Valentines day." I said casually, I put one hand into my pocket and pulled April closer with my other arm.

"Yes and?" April asked.

"I want to spend it with you." I said.

"So?" April asked me. Oh, she drives me crazy sometimes. I gave her a look and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Why you-" I let go of April and made to tickle her. She laughed and ran the short distance to the fat lady, screaming the password as she ran. She was so annoying sometimes but I can forgive anything that she does, I am smitten as Remus says, I'm totally and completely smitten, it's amazing how she managed to get me to behave just a little bit more then any other girl. April turned and just as I approached the portrait hole at a run she closed the portrait and SLAM! I fell to the floor slightly dazed.

"Bitch." I muttered as I tried to get up. The portrait hole opened and April looked at me and smiled.

"You ok?" She asked.

"I was running a bit too fast" I told her.

"I'd say, will you stop running in corridors, Black." Said the Fat lady as she reappeared in the portrait. April giggled slightly and helped me to my feet.

"Sorry about that." April said to me.

"It's fine." I said, "I am super BLACK!" I held my arms out, well I was super Black, even if I hated my family and anything associated with them. 

"Yeah, whatever, come on Casa Nova." April said grabbing my shirt and pulling me after her. Casa Nova, hm, that's a good name, maybe I should change my name, it has a ring to it. Hi I'm Casa Nova. Hm, I'll think about that but I don't think that April will like it, oh well, her loss really. April stopped by the sofa and looked over it. I did the same and who should be occupying it? None other then my best buddy and his red haired girlfriend. Of course, they weren't exactly doing the best thing you should be doing in the common room, I mean the head boy should never have his hand up the head girl's blouse. There's just too many young Gryffindors around staring, and there are as well.

"LILY! JAMES!" I shouted. Lily jumped nearly a foot in the air and stood up and straightened her uniform. James started as well and quickly pulled his glasses on properly and began to smooth his hair.

"Sirius!" Lily said as she did up the buttons of her blouse that James had undone.

"What was that for?" James asked as he tried to pull Lily back. She pulled her arm away and tucked her shirt into her school skirt.

"The head boy should not be feeling up the head girl in the middle of the common room at lunchtime." I told them matter of factly. Lily's eyes narrowed and I knew that if April and James wasn't there she would have cursed me to oblivion, I knew if she did I wouldn't stand a chance she was the cleverest girl in the year, in the school really. I took a step behind April, April laughed.

"She's not going to hurt you." April said. "And I think Sirius did the right thing." James stood up now and tucked in his own shirt. I saw a smirk forming on April's face and I knew there was a grin on my face.

"So, Lily, when are you two going to get married?" I asked. Lily glared at me.

"Shut up Sirius." Lily snapped at me, "It's impossible for James and I to have some time alone, I swear, you two are at it almost all the time, Remus and Jenny go to the, wherever they go but James and I, we can't do anything can we? We're the head students so-"

"Lily, calm down, it's ok." James said, putting an arm around her. Lily took a deep breath.

"You look funny when you're angry." I commented.

"I swear, do you want an early death?" Lily asked.

"Lily, no." April said pretending to be worried. "I love Sirius, you can't do that to me. Well not before Valentines day." Lily looked at April and turned around to pick up her jumper that was on the floor behind a chair. "And you know you have to try and have some self control becuase you can't sleep with James before I sleep with Sirius." April said.

"Yeah, whatever." Lily muttered. James started to smirk as well. I vaguely remember why we used to pick on Lily, she's so funny when she's angry or annoyed. And kinda cute looking to, but I didn't think that. No, that's just James' thought popping into my head.

"So what are you two doing for Valentine's day?" James asked, pulling Lily onto his legs. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. I looked at April and gave her a wide smile.

"I'm going to make dinner." I said proudly. April's smile disappeared instantly and Lily's smiled.

"Oh no, I'm going to die early, are you sure you want to make dinner?" April asked slightly panicked, "I mean we could maybe just go out or-" I started laughing at April's face, she was so cute when she was panicked.

"No, no I'm not going to cook, I just wanted to see your face." I said laughing. April's expression changed and she hit me, I caught her hand and pulled her towards me and put my lips against hers. I heard her moan slightly and her lips turn into a sort of smile.

"Ok." April said as she pulled away. "What are we going to do?"

"Just look pretty." I said, stroking her arm. April looked at me confused then she looked at Lily.

"Don't worry about it" Lily said without opening her eyes. How did they do that? I know there's some kind of connection between them, I'm very very sure they're gay. They're just dating guys to try and throw me off, I mean they nearly kissed each other at Christmas, like full on kiss and they kiss each other and hug and all that kinda stuff that most couples do. I don't see any other girls doing that in any year of any house.

"Thanks." April said with a grin. She put her arms around my waist. "Your bedroom?" She asked in a whisper. Lily opened her eyes.

"Hey, James and I-" She said getting up so quickly that James winced in pain. We were already half way to the stairs when April gave Lily a grin.

"Too late" She said.

"I hate you April!" Lily shouted.

"Hate you to!" April said back. I laughed as we went to the boys dorms for the rest of the lunch break.

*    *    *    *    *

I ran up from the kitchen, pulling out part of my shirt. A lot of people had permission to go out to Hogsmeade for Valentines day but I wanted to stay in the castle, it would be nice for a change. I had plans with some of the house elves and they were all busy in the kitchens. I ran to the Gryffindor Common room and looked around. James was sitting on the sofa with Remus. I walked causally up to them and looked at them with my hands in my pockets.

"So, where are your girlfriends?" I asked them.

"Helping your girlfriend." Remus said bitterly.

"Don't blame me, it's a girl thing where they all gather together and do whatever they do." I said waving one hand around.

"Well, I don't mind. I was planning on just taking Lily for a walk, she doesn't want anything too extravagant." James said. I rolled my eyes and looked at the stairs to the girl's dorms.

"Stop it, My hair is fine as it is." I heard April say,

"No wait, you have something on your nose." Jenny said.

"Holy shit, what is it?" April said slightly panicked.

"It's nothing, she's just messing around with you." Lily said, she was the first girl appear from the girl's dorms, I quickly looked over myself to make sure I looked ok. Dark blue silky feel shirt, I really liked this shirt, it felt so nice against my skin, just like April's kisses. Casual black trousers, that looked sorta like my school trousers. Actually, that's probably because they are my school trousers. Damn it! I picked up the wrong ones, well too late now. I felt a tingling feeling in my stomach, why did I feel so nervous? James looked up at me.

"The girls come down yet?" He asked. I nodded and he followed my gaze to the girl's dorm. "Lily." He said with a grin.

"Hi." Lily said, sitting down on his lap and hooking an arm around his neck and gave him a welcoming kiss.

"Where's April?" I blurted out. Lily looked at me and smiled.

"She's having a minor disagreement with Jenny-"

"Jenny, let go of my hair, it's fine straight." April snapped

"Fine." Jenny said coming down the stairs rolling her eyes, closely followed by April. I let my mouth drop open. Holy shit April looked good. She was wearing these really really nice tight jeans and a Japanese looking top that buttoned up the side and was a really nice light blue with lots of embroidery on it…hang on, how do I know how to describe it? That sounded so gay! Anyway, back to April. She looked so pretty, what I was planning for tonight I just wanted to do right there and then. April grinned one of those stunning smiles that made want to fall at her feet and do anything she wanted.

"Heya." She said casually. I wasn't able to reply, well I was but it wasn't exactly somewhere I wanted to reply right now. Ok, think of something else, something that doesn't not look as sexy or hot as April. Thing of, think of, think of Peter, yeah, think of Peter. Damn it's not working.

"Hi." I said weakly. April looked at me, pretending to be worried.

"I think I entranced him." April said waving a hand in front of my face. The others started laughing.

"Lets go." I said quickly, taking hold of April's hand and leading her out of the common room. She laughed, her tinkling little laugh that always got me feeling a bit-no think of unsexy things until you get to the room of requirement. We walked in silence up to the room of requirement but I could still feel April's gaze on me, it was burning a hole right through my head.

"Where are we going?" April asked as she followed me through the castle.

"Close your eyes." I whispered into her ear. She looked at me suspiciously, something she had every right to do.

"Why?" She asked me, her voice annoyingly suspicious.

"Trust me." I said. She nodded and closed her eyes as I made her walk past the same stretch of corridor three times. A door suddenly appeared from nowhere. I grinned to myself and I led April to the room. She was being awfully nice and actually kept her eyes closed. Such a faithful girlfriend. I closed the door behind us as we walked into the Room of Requirement before I even looked around the room and locked the door. I then turned and looked around the room. Perfectly romantic and April would love it. The room was lit up with red and white candles, there was a table on one side of the room with some plates set out and on the other side was a bed…a bed? There wasn't supposed to be a bed here! I went to April and put my arms around her, she smiled and put her head on my chest.

"Um, you can open your eyes now." I said hesitantly. She opened her eyes and saw the dinner table. She lifted her head and looked around, her eyes wide with happiness and a wide grin on her face. I loved seeing her so happy.

"Sirius, this is amazing." She said "Where are we?"

"In a special room, only thing is there wasn't supposed to be a bed." I said pointing at the bed with a frown. I turned to April, "What were you thinking?" April went red and she gave me a shy smile.

"Nothing." She said quietly but cheekily. Ooo, that girl is just so-

"Lets have dinner." I said quickly. April sighed and nodded, I may be a boy but even I could tell that wasn't what she wanted to do just then. I went to a chair and moved it so that April could sit in it.

"Thank you Sirius." April said, giving me a kiss as she sat down. What was up with me? I was never so gentlemanly, I never did what a girl wanted, I never felt this nervous when I was with a girl. I gave her a smile and then went to sit down.

"I hope you like the food." I said to her, looking into her eyes. Her brown eyes were so beautiful, especially with those little green flecks in them.

"You didn't make it yourself did you?" April asked with a smirk. I grinned and drinks and food filled the plates and glasses.

"You wish." I said with a grin. April sighed thoughtfully as she started eating.

"Not really." She said, "I tried one of those muffins you made a few weeks ago. It tasted like shit." She told me. I spat out the drink I was drinking.

"You actually ate one?" I asked her. She looked at me.

"Yeah, why?" She asked me.

"No reason." I said smiling as I tried to take another drink. "Who gave it to you?" I asked her after the drink. She had been looking at me weirdly.

"James, he said that you asked him to give it to me." She said with a slightly frown.

"Arse." I muttered. April looked at me curiously. "Him not you." I said quickly, "I told him to give it to Jessica." I smiled at April. "You said it tasted like shit?" I asked her. She nodded, she looked completely clueless.

"Why? What was in it Sirius?" She asked me. I gave her an innocent smile

"Promise you won't murder me?" I asked her.

"What was in it?" She asked.

"It was actually made of shit. You remember all the Slytherins spitting out their food that night?" April looked at me like she wasn't really that surprised but I could still see something in her eyes light up.

"Just eat." I said quickly. April laughed slightly and nodded. The food was great, nothing could beat the cooking of the Hogwarts house elves, except probably mrs. Potter but she wasn't available at school to make me meals now was she? I looked up at April, who was looking around the room keenly. I found my eyes wondering from her face to her breasts. It must be the boy in me, you know, check out a girls breasts before actually looking at her face. April's weren't exactly anything special, in fact I think Lily's were bigger but I didn't care, which is really strange for me. There are four things I normally look for in a girl, boobs, bum, legs and looks. April has the looks, she's got the legs and the bum, she has brains and wit and she's nicer then any girl I've ever been with.

"I love your top." I said. April smiled and looked at me.

"Aligadogojaimas, I've been waiting for an opportunity to wear it. Mum and Dad brought it back from Japan last year" April told me. I looked at her confused.

"What was that word you just said?" I asked her. She grinned and stuck her tongue out slightly.

"It means thank you in Japanese." April told me.

"Can you speak Japanese?" I asked her.

"Not very well. I speak French and German better then Japanese and I know a bit of Korean and Chinese, mandarin because that's what Jenny speaks" April told me. I looked at her amazed, I never knew she knew so many languages. "Oh and there's a bit of Italian and Norwegian that I know and my sister tried to teach me Spanish but that didn't really work." She said casually. How could she tell me all this so casually? I only knew English and that was the whole extent of my knowledge of Languages. April looked at me.

"Please? You never knew that about me?" April asked. I shook my head. "My parents travel around the world a lot, they used to take me places and we have a lot of foreign people around our house." I nodded, it was amazing, all this talk of Languages was actually turning me on quite a bit. April was so smart.

"Can any of the other girls speak anything else?"

"Well obviously Jenny speaks Chinese and Lily learnt French in Muggle school" April said. I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I leaned across the table and pressed my lips against April's. I head her give a noise of surprise and she seemed a bit tense at first but she soon relaxed.

"I'm guessing Dinner's over." April breathed as she looked into my eyes.

"It never started" I muttered into her lips. She smiled and stood up, pulling me closer to her. I just pressed my lips against hers and let my tongue play against her lips. I felt her lips go into a sort of smile before they parted and let my tongue have access to her mouth. I could feel April's body right up against mine, her arms wrapped around my neck tightly. I ran my hands up her back and into her hair. Our half finished dinner sat forgotten on the table. April let go of my neck and I felt her hands on my abs and on my back. My skin tingled at her every touch, if that's not love then I don't know what is. My nervousness growing with every second. I didn't know if I wanted to do this yet. This relationship I had with April was special, it was different and so nice, would sleeping with her spoil it. April suddenly pulled away.

"I think we need some music." She said randomly.

"Ok." I stammered. She gave me a slight smile and conjured a radio. "You have your wand with you?" I asked her. She gave me a smile and went to tune the radio.

"Of course, I carry it everywhere with me." She said. She turned to a channel that had some nice romantic music and she came to me. We went slowly to the bed and April seemed pretty much in charge of my body. I didn't have any control over what any part did and I mean NO control. She kissed me and I slowly lowered her onto the bed and deepened the kiss we were sharing. She broke away and kissed my neck and the bit of chest that was bare above my shirt.

"Sirius." She said quietly.

"April." I said just as quietly. I was breathing heavily and my heart was thumping, Merlin it was thumping, I knew what was coming and I wanted it so much.

"I'm ready." She said quietly. I nodded, I knew she was going to say that. We went further up the bed and April pulled me into another kiss. I heard her moan slightly as my hands went under her shirt. I wanted her so badly but I don't know why but I was so scared about hurting her. I slowly undid April's shirt and she shrugged it off while lying under me and not breaking away from the kiss. I rolled onto my side and April took this as her opportunity to roll on top of me. She put on leg on either side of my body, so she was sitting on me. She didn't kiss me but put her hands on my chest.

"Do you mind if I-" She made a motion to rip my shirt.

"Go for it." I said. She smiled and bent down to kiss me. I felt her body move slightly and it brushed my groin. The kisses were amazing, her smell everything about her. This was a side of April that I don't think anyone else has seen before. In the middle of the kiss I heard a tearing noise and some of April's hair brushing lightly against my chest. I felt her hands feeling my chest and her nails dragging against my skin softly. This girl knew how to turn a guy on. I rolled over again and April let out a soft laugh as I did. April had set the rules, I just had to push them on a bit. I started by kissing her face. The kisses went down from her face to her body. I could feel April's chest rising and falling as she breathed heavily. All the while I was undoing her trousers. She pulled my head back up to look at hers. She was smiling and she pulled me into a deeper kiss then ever. I felt her pulling down both my trousers and pants at the same time. Her fingers danced along my bum and around to the front. I hesitated slightly.

"What?" April asked.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her. I could have slapped myself, of course she wanted to do this but I really didn't want to hurt April. So many girls had lost their virginity to me and had regretted it. I didn't want April to be the same.

"Of course I'm sure." April said. "I wouldn't have let you get this far if I didn't." she said, "Not shut up, you're ruining everything." She gave me a smile, which caused me to smile. My hands went down to her waist where I pulled her knickers down and she pulled me even closer. I could feel her skin against mine, it was so soft, her body was so toned and tanned. Well, it's now or never, I thought to myself as my lips drifted across April's cheek. She seemed to realise that too and held me tightly as I took her virginity.

*    *    *    *    *

I lay in the bed staring at the ceiling. April lay her head on my shoulder. She was drawing out small ringlets on my chest with her finger. We must have been lying in the bed for about an hour and neither of us could sleep. How could I? I had just had the most amazing night of my life, I wanted to think it over, spend some time with April. I knew I loved her so much now, that wasn't an issue but April hadn't said anything sine she told me to shut up. I looked at her and all I could see was the top of her golden head. Her hair was spread all over my chest and on the pillows. She had tonnes of it. I pulled her slightly closer and I heard her let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked her with a smile.

"You are." April said looking up at me. We made eye contact and she smiled. "Don't worry Sirius. I'm not angry or upset. I'm very happy contented-" she kissed me lightly, "And nothing could be better right now." She said. I pulled her closer and she tucked her head under my chin.

"So you enjoyed tonight?" I asked her. She smiled and I felt her hands on my stomach, tracing the lines of my muscles, yep, I have muscles, I couldn't believe it either when I first got them.

"Did I enjoy it?" She asked. "It's been one of the best nights of my life, no wait, it is the best night of my life." She said. I grinned and kissed the top of her head. She hugged me tightly and closed her eyes. I noticed that she still had her bra one and nothing else. Oh well no matter, her bra actually looks quite good I must say. What? I'm a hormonal teenage boy, I can't help it if simple things like her bra makes me feel like that. I closed my eyes with a contented smile, I knew what April meant. It was the best night of my life as well, I didn't think anything could beat the day I walked out of my parent's house but something has and I would have never have dreamed that it would have been April at the time. April hated me as much as Lily hated James in fifth year. Jenny, April and Lily were the sworn enemies of the Marauders. Now look at us, all dandy, hoping into each other's beds…well James and Lily haven't quite got there yet but they will. Give it time. I smelt April's hair and knew that we were meant for each other, I don't know how I knew I just did.

*     *     *     *     *

April's hand is so small compared to mine, it's so weird. I've never noticed those kind of little things about her before. The way the right side of her lips tend to go up just before her left side when she smiles, that mole towards the back of her neck, even the different shades of blonde in her hair.

"Cupid" April said calmly as we approached the Fat Lady. The fat lady looked at us.

"Have a good night did we?" She asked us. April smiled and put an arm around me and hugged me slightly. I don't know why but since last night our relationship seemed to be a little bit calmer, we hadn't actually properly kissed since we woke up and I didn't mind though I did want to get another glimpse of April's bra.

"Um, can we go in?" I asked hesitantly when I noticed that the portrait wasn't opening. April noticed then as well and we looked at the fat Lady curiously.

"The password has changed" came a familiar voice from behind. Lily was walking towards in her school uniform. Her hair was up, which was quite unusual, and she was smiling happily to herself.

"Lily, why are you wearing your uniform?" I asked her. She gave me a smile and stopped just as she came to us.

"Have a nice night did we?" She asked us suggestively.

"The best" April said, hugging me even tighter. Lily grinned and hooked her arm through April's as girls did, and stole her away from me.

"You have to tell me all about it." She said. "Avis" The portrait swung open and April reluctantly let go of me to go with Lily. I held onto her hand as long as I could but when Lily and April got Jenny's attention in the common room the girls all disappeared up into their dorms.

"Padfoot!" Remus said slightly annoyed. I looked at him confused.

"What?"

"Why did you go and do that?" Remus asked.

"Do what?" I asked him cluelessly, what had I done? Well I had sex with April but what else had I done?

"You brought April back, the girls aren't going to be down for a while now because they're going to have to squeeze every detail out of April." Remus said complaining. He crossed his arms childishly as I sat down next to him on the sofa. James was sitting there as well but strangely he was reading a book. James could read? Peter was also with us and he was sitting on a chair but leaned forwards when I sat down. I didn't like the look on his face, Remus also had a curious look on his face.

"So, how as she?" Peter asked.

"I'm not telling you that." I told him as I leaned back. I put my hands behind my head and stretched out on the sofa.

"Ok, so, is she good?" Peter asked.

"Doesn't James normally ask these questions?" I asked Peter curiously. Peter nodded and I looked at James. He didn't seem to have noticed that I had come back. I waved a hand between his face and the book.

"What?" James asked looking up.

"Good morning to you to" I said to him grinning.

"Oh, hi." James said.

"Lily's got him reading now." Remus said.

"No she has not, she just recommended this book and I thought I'd read it." James said defensively.

"Was that why I met her outside?" I asked them.

"Yeah. She had to go and speak to Dumbledore about the next Hogsmeade weekend but Prongs here decided that he'd rather read the book. Got her a little annoyed but she's glad he's not playing tricks." Remus told me. I looked at James in horror and shock.

"She's taming you. No Prongs FIGHT IT!" I shouted as I lunged at him and grabbed him by the shoulders. James couldn't get himself tamed. The marauders wouldn't be the Marauders without him. He was like joint ringleader with me. We were the Marauders.

"I actually like this kind of life though." James said, "It's nice not having to think about who we're going to prank-" I had to cut him off.

"You finish that sentence and I will personally kill you" I said getting my wand out. How could James say something like that? James sighed.

"Fine, how was April?" James asked putting the book down and looking at me. I grinned.

"The best." I said.

"I thought that Ravenclaw girl was-"

"No, April beats everyone." I told him. I just had to think of April and I smiled, yep, I wasn't lying, April was my one and only. And she wasn't boring either, like Lily, she liked to have fun, she helped me out with pranks and homework. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes.

"I'm a bit unsure about this but I think Sirius is in love." Remus said pretending to be worried. I punched him playfully in the stomach and he and James started laughing.

"I am in love." I told them

**Next up, Remus Lupin**


	6. Problems On The Full Moon

Remus's POV 

I sat on my bed with Jenny lying against me. April, Lily, James and Sirius were sitting in a circle on the floor playing truth or dare. I personally think it's a rather stupid game and if they didn't answer the question or do the dare they had to lose an item of clothing, so really it's strip truth or dare. You should have seen Sirius' face when Lily suggested it. Of course, the girls are the ones who haven't lost any item of clothing yet. Jenny shifted and smiled as she saw me looking at her. I never really thought I'd end up with the Chinese beauty, I'm glad I did. She makes everything in my life so much easier, everything from my homework to my transformations. 

I shivered as I thought of the upcoming full moon. I really wasn't looking forwards to it, as usual and it was only a few days away. I knew I looked a bit ill and my senses were getting more sensitive. I would be forced to endure the pain and the torment becoming moony brought onto me, I'd have to succumb to the wolf. How I hated him so much. Every single month since I was bitten when I was five I've gone through this torture. I'm so grateful I have friends like these but Lily and April still don't know where I go every month. I know they get curious because they ask Jenny and Jenny doesn't know what to say. She's had to sneak out of the common room at full moons just to see me and James can't get away anymore. As Sirius says, Lily has him tamed and on a leash. It's ok but I know that Moony sometimes misses the companion ship. That's what I call the wolf Moony, he's not Remus and I'm not the Wolf, so the Wolf is Moony.

"Ok, April. Truth or dare?" Sirius asked his girlfriend.

"Dare" April said.

"About time" Jenny muttered. April grinned and I smiled. Sirius grinned like an idiot.

"Why do I have the horrible feeling that I know what he's going to ask?" Lily asked everyone. We all looked at Sirius, yep, I knew what he was going to ask. He had this strange fixation that Lily and April were together and he'd been determined since Christmas to get them to snog in front of him. April rolled her eyes.

"Kiss Lily." Sirius said like he'd just received a Christmas present.

"Sirius, I really don't thing that-" I started to say but April cut me off.

"No it's fine." She said.

"Wouldn't be the first time either." Lily told us. We all looked at her confused, well us boys did.

"Long story, there was some Vodka, a bottle, Petunia's best friends' boyfriends. It was a bit of a strange night." Jenny explained. All the girls grinned as they remembered it.

"That was so fun though, you should have seen Petunia when I got off with her boyfriend." Lily said.

"When was this?" James asked protectively.

"Oh, last summer" Lily said casually.

"You've gotten drunk?" Sirius asked, he seemed more amazed by this then anything else.

"Oh lots of times," Lily said.

"The Lily you see here is not the Lily you see when we get to parties." April said putting an arm around Lily. Lily grinned.

"And you," Lily said to April. "You're too sensible at parties."

"If we're not going to stay sober who is?" Jenny asked them.

"True." Lily said putting up a finger. I sat there listening to their conversation. I was as amazed as James and Sirius. Lily, Jenny and April went to parties, got drunk and got off with their sister's boyfriends? Ok, I can see April doing that and I can sort of just about see Jenny but Lily? No, she has to be kidding me.

"You're joking right?" James asked Lily with a smile. Lily looked at him with a plain face, no expression.

"What? You don't believe that I get drunk?" Lily asked.

"No, you're just so…sensible." James said. Lily gave him a grin.

"Looks can be deceiving." April said in a sultry voice.

"Well, if you two kiss, with tongues, I'll believe you." Sirius said. April and Lily both looked at him, they were really quite amusing that four.

"What is your obsession with us kissing?" April asked.

"Please?" Sirius said, giving that look that I knew April couldn't resist.

"Fine." April said. She turned to Lily who seemed to be thinking.

"Oh my god!" Lily suddenly shouted making everyone including myself jump about a foot in the air. "I just had the best idea." She quickly put her mouth to April's ear to whisper the idea to her. Sirius and James looked at me.

"Tell me." Jenny said getting up quickly. She climbed over me and went to her friends, accidentally elbowing me in the process. 

"Ow" I muttered.

"Sorry." Jenny said giving me a sympathetic look before being dragged to the floor by April. Those girls, I swear, they're have the bodies of seventeen and eighteen year olds but sometimes they act like five year olds, other times like fifty year olds. I saw Jenny's face burst into a grin

"Yeah, do that." Jenny said, giving them a smile before returning to me and putting a kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her another kiss as Lily announced what they'd do.

"We'll kiss, with tongues, if-" She paused for a minute, I didn't see what she did but there was something about her tone that made me very curious. "You two kiss." I broke away from the kiss to see James and Sirius' faces. Sirius looked horrified and James looked like Lily had just asked him to cut off his man parts.

"You must be joking?" James asked. I started laughing and got a pillow in the face from Sirius.

"Well, I'm afraid unless you do we're not doing it." April said, "Come on Lily, lets go to bed. You coming Jenny?" Jenny shook her head. 

"I'm going to stay with Remus for the night." Jenny said. April nodded and got up tiredly. Lily reluctantly got up as well. James quickly got to his feet and helped her up.

"Such a gentleman." Lily said with a grin. She gave him a kiss and his horror struck expression turned into a smile.

"You sure you don't want to stay here either?" James asked, wrapped his arms around Lily. I have to admit that I don't really mind them doing anything in public because I know that both of them have reputations to maintain and responsibilities I know they don't want to lose.

"Remember what I told you the other day." Lily breathed but everyone still heard.

"What did you tell him?" Sirius asked. Lily rolled her eyes and turned slightly.

"That I don't want to sleep with anyone until I get married." Lily said. Sirius burst out laughing.

"James isn't getting any." He laughed as he rolled onto the floor.

"Padfoot!" James said slightly annoyed. I shook my head in pity and to prevent myself laughing. I may not be 'getting any' as Sirius put it but I knew that Jenny didn't mind what we got up to before we got married. As for Sirius and April, everyone knew they'd slept with each other on Valentines day. But now we finally knew the reason why Lily and James weren't as close as the rest of us.

"It's really killing her that thing is," Jenny whispered into my ear. I smiled at that and pulled Jenny closer.

"Good night guys." I said as I started to pull the hangings closed.

"Oh, Remus, can I ask you something." Lily said. I was halfway through closing my hangings. I looked at the red head curiously.

"It depends what it is." I said slowly. Lily nodded and glanced at April. April shrugged and Lily rolled her eyes. I swear those two are also psychic. They seem to have these silent conversations.

"Well, April and I were talking the other day-"

"You said you weren't going to bring me up." April said. Lily ignored her.

"And we were wondering where you went every month." Lily said slightly nervously. "I mean, we've been told that it's because your mum is ill but we don't think that's it." Everyone looked at me uneasily. I knew everyone in that room except the two girls that weren't on my bed, knew where I went. I looked at Jenny uneasily and she gave my hand a squeeze.

"You could tell them." She muttered to me. "They won't freak out-" Jenny stopped uneasily, "I think" That gave me a lot of courage. I think! She's supposed to be their best friend and all she can say is I THINK! I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and looked at Lily, as opposed to April. April had a knack of being able to know what people were saying before they said them and I'd rather tell the girls this myself.

"Well-" I started, ok, please don't freak out, please don't freak out. "It's because I'm a werewolf." Lily gasped and April let out a small squeak of fear. The usual, natural reactions.

"And, and the others-" April pointed to the other boys. "They're were-"

"No" Sirius said with a sigh, "Prongs, time to let out our secret." He said to James, who looked a bit reluctant. Lily looked at him sharply as James shifted uncomfortably. Jenny sat on her knees and wrapped her arms around my chest and leant her head on my shoulder from behind. Just having her there seemed to make it easier. I remember when I told Jenny. She hadn't spoken to me for about a week after.

"Do we have to?" James muttered.

"James!" Lily snapped annoyed, "What secret?" April looked like she wanted to know as well. James looked at me and then Sirius before closing his eyes.

"I think we should tell them first" Sirius said hesitantly as James turned into a huge handsome stag. Lily let out a start of surprise.

"Oh my god." Lily gasped. I felt Jenny's arms grip slightly tighter. 

"Holy shit." April shouted as she moved away from Sirius and towards Lily. "What are you?" She asked Sirius.

"Dog." Sirius merely said.

"Jenny's Dog?" April asked, "The one on Christmas day that-" Sirius nodded. April turned to me and Jenny. "You knew and you didn't tell us?"

"Well, I kinda wasn't supposed to have found out myself." Jenny said, and that was true, she had accidentally stumbled in on James and Sirius changing into their animagus forms, one of the reasons she didn't speak to me that week. Lily's eyes were still on James.

"Sorry, this is just-" April seemed to be taking a lot worse then Lily was. In fact I think Lily was more curious. Prongs stepped towards Lily and nudged her hand, a smile was playing on Lily's face but April grabbed her and left the room with her before Lily could say anything. Sirius sat on his bed with his head in his hands.

"No." He muttered as James turned back to himself.

"Well, I don't think that went too badly." James said nervously.

"Do you want me to go and talk to them?" Jenny offered.

"Will you be safe?" I asked her cautiously. Jenny thought for a while.

"Actually April might get a bit…heated." Jenny said, "Probably beating herself up over how she couldn't see it before." Jenny sighed. She moved so that she was sitting across my legs and had her arms wrapped around my neck.

"What's that mean?" Sirius asked, looking at Jenny distraught

"Well, April can kind of read people's minds and she'll probably be so annoyed that she wasn't able to read all this in you guys before." I knew that Jenny wasn't telling us everything but I wasn't going to push her for more information. I ran a hand over the back of her head and then sighed.

"I'm going to sleep." I said eventually. Jenny smiled and closed the hangings for me.

*     *     *     *     *

"Remember, just come out when the transformation is over." Madam Pomfrey told me as I walked into the shrieking shack. I nodded as she turned to leave before I transformed. Every month that I had been in the school I had come here. Oh how I hated this place. I just wish I could get rid of the transformations and be a normal boy, a normal teenager. I knew I couldn't have children because if I did they'd also be werewolves. I sighed as I took off my shirt. I didn't want to ruin yet another shirt because of my transformations. I carefully put it on the floor and I was about to take off my trousers when I could feel the pain of the transformations taking over.

"AH!" I screamed as I fell to my knees clutching my head. The pain was so intense. I could feel the fur poking through my skin and growing like a million needles stabbing at my skin. I could feel my insides change and my bones twist and grow longer. It felt like I was being pulled apart. After over ten years of this I still haven't gotten used to it. The transformation felt like it was taking an hour when I knew it only took a few minutes, if that. And that's it. I was Moony. Moony took over all my emotions, feelings and actions. I looked around the room I was in. The smells and sounds were suddenly so overpowering. I started to pace around anxiously. I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before I started hurting myself in boredom. I could hear the night birds outside the shrieking shack, I needed to get out, it was so confining in the shack. 

I wondered through the rooms and came to the entrance to the tunnel that led to the school. I could feel the wolf wanting to go through it. I tried not to, it would mean that I would be free on the grounds of Hogwarts, if I got past the Whomping Willow. I slowly walked down into the tunnel. I never used to do this until Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail encouraged me. I never even knew this passage was here, well not in my wolf form. I slowly walked down the tunnel, my nose picked up the familiar scents before I heard of saw the people they belonged to. I was soon under the roots of the whomping willow and I could hear them.

"Damn, we need to try and get that knot" came Padfoot's human voice.

"What about Peter, where is he?" came Jenny's voice. I could feel the wolf calm down. Jenny was the only person who could touch Moony and not get hurt.

"I don't know…got it." There was a thud on the ground above and I knew this was my opportunity to get out. The wolf took it. I bounded out of the small passageway and onto the ground. I heard Jenny give a scream and a dog was growling.

"Remus." Jenny shouted as I ran off over the grounds. Padfoot close behind me. I could smell humans, they were everywhere, I wanted to kill something. I stopped for a moment and I could smell something coming from near the lake. It wasn't the usual scent of the lake or the squid inside it. There was something else on the wind. The very faint smell of Coconuts and Grapefruit. I slowly walked towards the scent, my eyes searching for the source. Over the smell of those foods I could smell humans. There was a bark behind me and I turned to see Padfoot running towards me. I ran, I didn't want to be cooped up in the shrieking shack, I wanted to be free. I wanted to hunt something. I ran towards the lake and saw two girls sitting at the edge of the lake. I knew them, I couldn't really tell who one of them was it was too dark to see but the moon shone off the blond hair of the other girl.

"I don't know. Why do you think they tried to hide all this from us?" I heard the blonde one say. She was still really far away but my hearing was incredibly good.

"Well it is a big secret, I suppose." Said the one with darker hair.

"Lily it's different for you." Said the blonde one.

"It is? How?" I slowed down as I approached them. I didn't want them to know I was coming. I hadn't hunted in a long time. All my life I was cooped up. There was a bark behind me that echoed over the ground. The two girls turned and saw me.

"Shit!" screamed the blond one. Oh well, too late. Never mind, I ran for them, they held their wands out ready to fight when I was tackled in the side by Padfoot. Stupid dog! Always ruining my fun. I fought with him for a while but every minute that I did the girls were getting away.

"Lily! April!" shouted Jenny as she came running up breathlessly. "Come with me." They started running away from me. They were not going to get away. I leapt over Padfoot and ran for the girls. "Lily!"

"I've twisted my ankle!" She shouted. I saw her start to slow down and headed for the one that smelled of coconuts.

"Lily! He's right behind us!" I felt someone pulling me from behind, something had a tight grip of my tail. I turned and growled at Padfoot, who was trying to stop me from getting to the humans.

_Moony, down boy! Fight me!_ I heard the human padfoot say in my head. I shook my head, I hated it when they did that. I pulled away and snapped at Padfoot. He tried to fight back but I managed to get free and ran towards the girls.

*    *    *    *    *

I could feel my head pounding. I knew I was in human form because my hands were over my eyelids. I couldn't remember anything that had happened. Where was I? What day was it? Slowly I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a bed, without my top on and curtain drawn all around me. I sat up and winced. I looked down to find my chest covered in cuts and scratches. Shit, what had I been up to? My eyes widened and I quickly got up. I saw a shirt draped over the end of my bed. I pulled it on and went through the curtains. Jenny was standing against the wall looking anxious.

"Jenny." I said quietly. Jenny looked at me and ran to me. She hugged me tightly and pressed a kiss against my lips.

"Don't go near James." She whispered urgently as she pressed her forehead against mine.

"Why?" I whispered back. I got my answer almost right away as the curtains around another bed parted and James came storming out of them and glared at me.

"You're awake." He said angrily. Jenny turned around in alarm and stood in front of me.

"James, it wasn't his fault" Jenny said. "I saw him." James didn't seem to be listening. He pulled Jenny out of the way and pushed me against the wall.

"You hurt her." James said. I felt my head hit the wall and I closed my eyes in pain.

"What?" I asked, "Who did I hurt?" I had no idea what he was talking about. What did I do? Then it dawned on me. Moony must have done something.

"What do you mean who did I hurt? You hurt Lily!" James shouted at me.

"Will you guys please keep quiet!" Sirius said coming from somewhere. I looked at him as well. "James it wasn't Remus' fault that-"

"It is his fault." James said. James looked at me again, he looked so angry, I've never seen him like that before. "Do you see any other werewolves around here?" That really hurt, such a low blow from one of my best friends.

"What did I do?" I asked them. I looked at Jenny, Sirius and James. James's eyes were dangerously narrow. He pulled me forwards and pushed me through the curtains. Lily was lying in a bed, unconscious with several cuts and scratches over her. I gasped, I hadn't done that had I? I couldn't have, that would mean that Lily was a-

"You didn't do that Remus." Jenny said. "James you know it wasn't him."

"Who was it then?" James asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We don't know but it wasn't Moony. I know because I fought him down." Sirius snapped at James.

"I'm so sorry James" I said. I couldn't believe that I'd done that. James was looking at me coldly while Jenny rolled her eyes.

"You didn't do anything. Something else attacked us last night." She said like her words weren't getting through.

"Oh yeah, how do you explain the bites on April's arms?" James asked.

"James, how many times do we have to tell you." Sirius shouted at him. "It wasn't Remus!" James just glared at the lot of us and forced us beyond the curtain barrier.

"Go away." He just muttered as he closed the curtains. I turned to Jenny and Sirius. They both looked quite disturbed.

"What happened, I want the full story and I don't want either of you to lie." I said to them sternly. Sirius and Jenny looked at each other uncertainly. God was it so difficult? If I didn't in fact attack April and Lily then why were they so uncertain and scared? What did I do? I wanted to know. I could vaguely remember the actual transformation but nothing more then that, well I remembered an intense desire to hunt. Neither one said anything.

"TELL ME DAMMIT!" I shouted at them. I turned and hit the wall in frustration. Jenny ran forwards and held my arm.

"Don't hurt yourself." Jenny said concerned. She put her arms around my waist and put her head on my chest. I put my arms around her, feeling some of my anger seeping away.

"What happened?" I asked Sirius, slightly calmer. Sirius took a deep breath.

"You got out last night. Jenny and I were going to go and keep you company when you got out and chased Lily and April. We managed to get them away but something else attacked them." Sirius said defeated. "James thinks it was you despite Jenny and I trying to tell him that it wasn't you because it wasn't." I let go of Jenny and took a few paces away from them

"How do you know?" I asked as I looked at the door darkly. Everything was just so drab in the hospital wing.

"Because I was holding you back when they were attacked" Sirius said seriously. Sirius and Serious. Two words that shouldn't be put into a sentence together. I sighed and felt Jenny's hand on my arm.

"I saw it." Jenny said. "It wasn't you." She said reassuringly. I turned to look at her. She looked so concerned and looked quite upset. "Trust me. I saw Sirius fighting you when we were attacked"

"We?" I asked her curiously. Jenny nodded and pulled up her sleeve where there was a long thin cut along her arm. I took her arm and looked at her. She got hurt, she shouldn't have come, oh shit.

"Are you ok?" I asked her. She nodded seriously.

"April and Lily kind of pushed me out of the way and they got the full force of the attack." Jenny said. I pulled Jenny into a tight hug, which she returned. I looked at Sirius and he looked at me sadly.

"And James doesn't believe you?" Sirius shook his head. That was great. My best friend didn't believe that I didn't attack his girlfriend. As the weight had lifted off my shoulders as Sirius and Jenny told me it wasn't me that attacked my friends it came crashing back down when I thought of how James would hate me.

"He wants to hear it from Lily." Jenny said. I leant against the wall and closed my eyes. I couldn't believe this had happened. How did I get out anyway. I should have been in the shrieking shack. I let out a frustrated shout and Jenny looked at me.

"Are you ok?" She asked me.

"Is there anything else I should know?" I asked Jenny and Sirius. Jenny sighed and nodded. "What is it?"

"The entire school now knows you're a werewolf" Jenny said quickly. 

"WHAT!" I asked in surprise, "How-"

"Word got round" Sirius said quietly. "It wasn't us. They got a curious as to why the girls and you were in the hospital wing, some of the Slytherins and I think Jessica Lowe and a few others started to spread it around"

"Slytherins? Was it Sniv-" I started to say but again Sirius cut me off

"No, it wasn't. Remember James put that charm on him that stopped him from being able to tell anyone you were a werewolf?" Sirius asked. I nodded. I went back to my own bed and sat on it. Jenny and Sirius seemed slightly lost as to what to do. There was a noise from the bed next to mine, beyond the curtain and Sirius looked at the curtain.

"I'm going to check on April." Sirius said slowly as he went through the curtains.

"I presume April's there." I said. Even I could hear the depression and disheartenment in my voice. Jenny sighed and got onto the bed and gave me a kiss that just seemed to go on forever. I didn't want it to end because in that kiss it was just Jenny and me. She sighed as she pulled away.

"Remus." She said seriously.

"Yeah."

"I love you." She said with a smile. I smiled at her. I loved her so much to, but there was only so many ways you could express love. I know Jenny loves me. She's told me she'd die for me and I'd do exactly the same to her. I wanted to stay with Jenny forever, I wanted her to be mine forever even if I couldn't give her any normal children.

"Marry me" I said. Oh shit I didn't just say that did I? Jenny looked at me slightly taken aback.

"Huh?" She asked "Did you just propose?" She asked. She looked incredibly confused. Please say yes, please say yes. What, no we're too young. Oh my stupid head, why am I arguing with myself. The silence between us seemed to go on forever. Jenny wanting me to clarify what I'd just said and me, well what was I doing? Arguing with myself over whether I wanted to marry Jenny or not. I took a few deep and heavy breaths as I made up my mind.

"If you don't mind marrying a werewolf then yes I did just propose." I said nervously. Jenny's face twisted with worry. Uh oh. 

"I don't know, my parents and my age and-" She fumbled.

"It's just a yes or no question" I said desperately. I wanted to know. My heart was thumping. Jenny licked her lips as she seemed to be thinking about it.

"I really want to but I'm not sure what my family would say." Jenny said. I smiled, if it was just her family that was worrying her then that was no problem, well it was but not right now. I sat up properly and pulled Jenny into a deep kiss. I heard her let out a quiet moan. There was a soft yet stern cough from behind Jenny. We broke apart and saw Madame Pomfrey walking towards us. Jenny scrambled off the bed and straightened her uniform.

"So, you're awake." She said. She didn't sound happy at all. "Well, at least you all ok, a few scratches." She muttered.

"I think April woke up." Jenny said pointing behind her.

"Thank you. Mr. Lupin, Miss. Chang, you may return to classes now, you are well enough. I will be sending Mr. Black and Mr. Potter out soon." I nodded and got up. Jenny took my hand and gave me a smile.

"You need to go and get changed, and I need to get my school bag." Jenny said.

"I'll come with you." Sirius said as he left April's bed. I managed to get a glimpse in between the curtains and saw April sitting there looking rather pissed off. She had a bandage over part of her face and her arm was in a sling. I winced as I imagined the pain she must be in. Jenny nodded to Sirius' statement and we all left the hospital wing. The school was so quiet, probably because everyone was in lessons and that I was grateful for. If everyone now knew that I was a werewolf I didn't want them all standing there pointing at me or whispering stuff behind my back. We managed to get to the common room quite quickly. My mind stuck in thoughts of Jenny or how to convince James that I hadn't hurt Lily but then my mind would drift back to Jenny again. I couldn't believe she was mine forever. I wouldn't be able to give her any children but still, she was mine. As if sensing my thoughts Jenny squeezed my hand slightly tighter and gave me a smile. Well I suppose even if James does continue to be cold towards me and the school may turn against me but Jenny will always be there. I returned her smile and we went to the common room.

"I'm just getting my bag, I'll see you two in a bit." Jenny said, reaching up to kiss me. I gave her a kiss and she almost skipped up the stairs to the girls dorms. Sirius watched her curiously and then followed me as I went to our own dormitory.

"Jenny seems happy." Sirius said casually. I smiled and nodded as I pulled my shirt off and got my school uniform out. Sirius picked up his bag and twirled his wand. "What happened? She was worried sick this morning." I smiled again, should I tell Sirius? How would he react, we always thought it would be Sirius or James that got married first, obviously not! I put on my uniform in silence before turning to Sirius.

"I don't know." I said. I didn't want to tell him. I wanted to savour the fact that I was now engaged to Jenny. A very sudden and unexpected engagement, yes but an engagement none the less. Sirius nodded suspiciously. "So who did attack Lily and April?" I asked him as I searched for my bag.

"We don't really know. It was dark but we know it was a dog like creature. I personally think if was Hagrid's dog because it was Hagrid that managed to knock you out." Sirius said. I found my bag and nodded as I took in this new information. Hagrid's dog was quite a big animal and no matter how tame they appeared to be animals were still animals.

"Ok." I said. That gave me some comfort that Hagrid had been there, even though I could have hurt him as well, he would be able to tell people that I didn't hurt Lily and April. I would never hurt them, they were my friends. Sirius and I were about to leave when James stormed in, grabbed his bag and left without giving any of us a second glance. Sirius sighed and my smile went. James should know that I didn't hurt Lily, and if I did it wasn't purposefully. He normally believed Sirius but if it was only Lily who could convince him that it wasn't me then I hoped she woke up soon. Well I hoped that anyway but I didn't want James to be angry with me. We walked down to the common room where Jenny was perched on the edge of the sofa talking to James. He seemed slightly annoyed, probably with me, but he didn't look as angry.

"Tell Professor McGonagall I'll be late." James told Jenny.

"We're late already though." James nodded and started to leave when Jenny took hold of his arm. He looked at her. "Please don't blame Remus, he couldn't help it even if it was him that attacked the others but I know it wasn't him anyway." James nodded and just left. Jenny let out a sigh and stood up and took my hand.

"What was that about?" I asked her. Jenny shook her head.

"I just wanted to see if he was ok." Jenny said. I looked at her curiously. "Oh please, I'm yours Remus, so don't get all protective." Jenny said with a smile and kissing my chin. I hadn't shaved so I knew it was a bit rough. Jenny noticed as well and as we walked out of the common room she put a hand to my chin. "I like this." She said. I grinned in spite of myself. Sirius rolled his eyes as we turned down the corridor and went into Transfiguration.

"You're late!" snapped Professor McGonagall. The strict and harsh witch that was the Transfiguration teacher and the deputy head mistress. 

"Sorry Professor but the headmaster said we could stay with the others until they woke up" Jenny said sweetly. The others in the class turned and looked at me. They all started whispering and those who I thought might not care about me being a werewolf looked at me fearfully. I held onto Jenny's hand tightly and she glanced at me for a fraction of a second while I tried to concentrate on Professor McGoangall. She nodded.

"Very well, nice to see you again Lupin." She said to me. 

"Thank you Professor" I said. I didn't think I would be that nervous but my voice nearly cut out in my throat. Jenny, Sirius and I went to our usual seats.

"Killer" someone hissed at me as I passed

"Better off dead" muttered another person so quietly that Professor McGonagall couldn't hear. Jenny snapped around and gave the person a cold glare.

"Jenny" I said quietly as we sat down. Jenny turned to look at me. "Ignore them."

"No, they're insulting you." Jenny said in a whisper.

"Miss. Chang, no talking in class" Said Professor McGonagall. "Now I would like to continue on human Trans-" There was a clatter at the door as James walked in with April. April's arm was still in a sling but the bandage that had covered her face had gone, now it was just a bit red and there was a small cut down the side of her neck.

"Sorry Professor." James said, 

"Please sit down." McGoangall said tiredly. "Now where was I?"

"Human Transfigurations Professor." Said a Ravenclaw girl behind me. 

"Ah yes-" Professor McGonagall continued her lecture on human to Animal transfigurations as April sat down silently next to Sirius.

"You ok?" Sirius asked her. She nodded and got her things out and looked at the board. I scowled and looked at Jenny, who looked at April nervously. I carefully tore a piece of parchment off and wrote a quick note to April

Sorry about the other night. I hope I didn't hurt you. How are you feeling?-R 

I passed it to Sirius and indicated to April. He nodded and passed it to April. She read it silently and picked up her own quill. I looked at Jenny, she put her hand on my leg under the desk and squeezed it slightly. I felt slightly better but not much. Sirius passed the note back and I read it.

Forget about it. It wasn't you who attacked us, it was something else, not entirely sure what though. I'm feeling a bit depressed, my best friend is still unconscious and the school hates my other friend. Congratulations on the engagement by the way. Will celebrate later when Lily wakes up - A

I looked at the piece of paper and looked at April, she was staring at the board and seemed to sense my gaze on her. She turned and gave me a smile before turning back to the board. Jenny took the note and smiled and shook her head.

"Typical." She muttered with a smile.


	7. Death Of A Loved One

James's POV 

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Merlin, won't she stop doing that! It's driving me crazy! I turned to looked at Lily. We're sitting in charms and she's just sitting there tapping that muggle stencil thing against her text book. I could see April turn to look at Lily slightly annoyed as well.

"Lily stop it." April hissed to her. Lily turned to look at her with a start, like she hadn't been paying attention.

"What?" She asked, like she hadn't heard the question. April pointed at the thing Lily held. "Oh, sorry." She muttered as she put the pencil down and put her chin in her hands and sighed. It was obvious she was bored out of her mind. That was something new, Lily was never bored in any lesson. She was always alert and listening. I smirked slightly and turned to face the tiny Professor Flitwick explaining the Fidelius Charm. I felt Lily's gaze on me and I glanced at her.

"What?" I mouthed.

"Why are you smiling?" She mouthed back.

"You." I replied. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Flitwick. I reached under the desk and took her hand in mine. She seemed quite bored of life since she got attacked by that thing. We're not sure what it was but it wasn't Remus. I know, I'm an idiot for not believing the others but I wanted to hear Lily say that it wasn't Remus then I was fine. The night after Lily woke up we had a small party in the boys dorm room for Jenny and Remus, I can't believe they're actually going to get married. I always thought it would be me or Sirius first, that was about two months ago, it's nearly June now. They were really sweet and perfect for each other…dammit! That's Lily's phrase! I'm starting to think like her. Oh well, she's beautiful and clever, I don't see why I shouldn't be like her, but I can't. I'm James Potter! Ok, that's a crap excuse but I don't want to turn into Lily's puppet, I want Lily to be my puppet, but even I can see that's not working. I've learnt to accept that Lily's going to have full control over everything I do.

It had taken me ages to finally get Lily, even after the ball at Christmas she had reluctantly let me kiss her and by her argument with April we were getting along quite well and I hadn't really asked her to be my girlfriend when she announced me as her boyfriend. That had caught me by surprise and then after that we pretty much took it steady and I had to admit she was really changing me. I didn't really find Marauding as fun as it was. Pranks wasn't really my thing anymore any more either. April and Jenny had taken my places on those accounts. Jenny went with Remus to his transformations and April helped Sirius with his pranks. They were actually really good marauders. Lily really didn't like it but she let them do it because it meant that when they were away we were alone and I knew that she craved time with me as much as I craved time with her. It was all good keeping up the image that we're the perfect couple but when we don't have time together then that relationship tends to deteriorate and Lily is too good for Broom cupboards and empty classrooms. She didn't tell me this, in fact she's suggested it but I won't let her, she deserves better.

"You may pack up now, and good luck in your exams." Flitwick said. Urgh, the NEWTs, they're in two weeks and the school has given us the two weeks off to revise. Lily sighed her relief and immediately began to pack her things away. I laughed as she did.

"What?" Lily asked me.

"You're never so anxious to get out of classes." I said to her. She smirked and leaned closer to me.

"Can't wait to have some time with you, that's all." She whispered as she kissed my cheek. Oh, how I really want some privacy with Lily. We've been dating now for about six months and we still haven't really been able to have any more then half an hour alone. I've often suggested to Lily that we go to the Head's bathroom together but she's sticking to her morals and won't let me get too close as in, she doesn't want us to sleep with each other because she believes in a) true love and b) keeping sex sacred. Some Muggle thing but I will respect her wishes and as much as it kills me, I will not touch her like that until she gives me permission to do so. She reached for her bag under the table and picked it up as I casually put a hand on her back. I don't know why, I just felt like it. She looked up and gave me a smile before re-emerging from under the table and plonked her bag on the desk as she put her books into it carefully.

"Lily do you mind if I put my stuff into your bag?" I asked her uncertainly. Lily gave me a tired yet fairly amused look.

"You have to, don't you? You forgot your bag." Lily said, passing her bag over. I grinned and just shoved my books in there. I conveniently 'forgot' my bag this morning but amazingly my things were in Lily's bag. I tried to convince Lily that it wasn't me but it was really. I couldn't be bothered to carry my bag around and I wanted to get revenge for her trying to turn me on last night, succeeding and then decided she wanted to go to bed then leaving me while I was ready to just throw her on the bed and have sex with her right there and then. The little minx is evil I tell you! She's not as innocent as she looks, looks are deceiving, especially the head girl's looks.

"James, put the books in there neatly or I won't be able to close the bag!" Lily snapped at me as she stood up and put her arms around my shoulders.

"Eh, who cares" I said, shrugging. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What will I do with you?" She asked me as she bent over to give me a kiss on the cheek. April, Sirius and the others had all disappeared off onto the grounds, heading towards the lake, where we had spent all our breaks recently. I stood up and handed the bag to Lily.

"There you go my dearest" I said with a grin. Lily smiled thankfully and slipped the strap over my shoulder and patted my cheek.

"There you go my dearest" She said back, grinning. I narrowed my eyes. Oh, that girl! I reached for her and grabbed her around the waist, she laughed and tried to free herself.

"James stop it." She said laughing as I began to tickle her. "We're still in our classroom."

"So?" I said, making my voice a bit lower. I stopped tickling her and kissed her. I heard her let out a moan of delight as she wrapped her arms around my neck. There was a coughing behind us and we pulled our faces away from each other. I turned to see Jessica Lowe standing behind me.

"Some of us would rather not see a snog fest in the middle of the classroom. Now if you excuse me, or rather, don't excuse me. I'll get past myself." She said pushing me and Lily out of the way. She seemed to push Lily rather hard and Lily stumbled over a few chairs. I held her tightly and Lily held onto me.

"Bitch." Lily muttered. I could have cursed Jessica right there and then but I had learnt to control myself around Lily. I put my arm around her waist and led her out of the classroom. "God, we can't win can we?" She asked me as she put her head on my shoulders as we walked down the steps to the entrance hall.

"No but I promise one day, when we've left Hogwarts we'll have at least an hour to ourselves" I said with a grin. Lily laughed and hit me lightly on the chest.

"Shut up." She said to me.

"Why? It's true. If you and I ever want to get married Lily we're going to have to have more then half an hour every six months to ourselves." I said jokingly. If you and I ever want to get married? Was I on drugs? Of course I would love to spend the rest of my life with Lily but she would never want to spend her life with me, why would she want to do that?

"Yeah I suppose" Lily said with a sigh. "Of course, when we get married we'd have a house to ourselves by then, hopefully" Did I just hear right? Was Lily replying to my joke of getting married. She did, cool! I had to grin to myself and I pulled Lily closer. She laughed and put an arm around me and we went out into the blazing sunshine and I had to squint my eyes against it. It was so hot as well. I spotted Sirius chasing Peter by the lake with April lying on the grass with her shirt hitched up slightly and Jenny and Remus talking.

"Over there." I said pointing them out. Lily nodded and let go of me and took my hand, she turned to look at me and smiled. "What?" I asked her with a grin. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed a kiss against my lips.

"I love you." She muttered against my lips.

"I love you to. What's up with you today?" I asked with a smile. I followed the question with a kiss. I felt Lily's tongue touch my lips and let my tongue slip into her mouth and touch hers. Ok, I guess finding some privacy has gone straight out of the window then. Lily's acting weirdly today. Lily pulled away and gave a satisfied smile.

"I don't know. I feel different. You know we have two weeks of break before our exams, I know everything and we've nearly finished school. I feel really-" Lily stopped as she tried to find the right word. I grinned and dropped her bag and pulled her into another French kiss. I could hear her giving me soft, very seductive moans. Shit, why did it have to be here? Right outside the castle. I pulled Lily's waist closer to mine and felt her hands on my face. Her touch was just so soft and gentle.

"OI!" Sirius shouted. "HEAD LOVERS! GET YOUR ARSES OVER HERE!" Nope, that's not working. Lily's still going at it. So am I, I like this sudden change of mood in Lily. I pulled at her shirt slightly, untucking it from her skirt and let a hand slip under her shirt.

"Not here." She breathed as she pulled away slightly.

"Ok." I murmured, removing my hand and putting it on the small of her back as we continued our kiss. I lowered my other hand onto her bum and held it slightly, I felt Lily's lips go into a sort of smile as we kissed. Lily was suddenly pulled away from me and I was pushed away slightly. Jenny and April were standing between me and by very annoyed girlfriend. Lily's friends were smiling and April went to Lily.

"Come on lovebirds, lets get you two to the lake. The first years are watching." Jenny said. 

"It's not fair." I heard Lily mutter as I picked up her bag and put it over my shoulder before following the girls.

"Life's not Lily." Jenny said, "I've still got to tell my parents about me and Remus" I heard Lily let out a long stream of swear words that I didn't think Lily even knew.

"Lily!" April said pretending to be shocked.

"Miss. Evans, Mr. Potter. The headmaster would like to see you." Said our Potions master as she ran towards us. Lily and I stopped and turned to see her.

"Why?" I asked. Our potions was quite young, you could easily mistake her for a student and despite her strictness quite easy for even the boys to talk to. She looked at me slight perturbed.

"I think that's for the Headmaster to tell you." She said seriously. Lily looked at me and then to Professor Hamish.

"Are we in trouble?" Lily asked. 

"No, you aren't. I suggest you get to the headmaster's office quickly." She said, tucking a strand of her sandy brown hair behind her ear anxiously. I nodded and turned to Lily. Lily let go of April and took my hand as we followed Professor Hamish to the Headmaster's office. It looked how it usually did, the portraits, strange devices, the only difference was that Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, that was normally perched on his perch in all his splendour was just a tiny bald chick. I looked at Lily slightly amused.

"Please, take a seat" said Professor Hamish, "the headmaster will be here in a few moments to talk to you." She said before leaving the office.

"Strange." Lily muttered. I had to admit, I found this rather strange. Lily and I were often given at least a week's warning before a meeting so that we could get ready for it. I moved my seat closer to Lily's and took her hand tightly.

"I'm sure it's nothing." I said to her reassuringly. She smiled and kissed my cheek.

"I'm sure it's not." She said back. I put her bag on the floor and focussed on her. Her emerald green eyes sparkled in the sunlight that poured into the room and her magnificent red hair was straight today instead of it's usual curly state. I preferred it straight, it made Lily look older, more serious and it was a while lot sexier but the curly hair made her look more innocent and a lot cheekier. I don't know how or why I notice these things but I just do.

"Ah, Lily, James I'm glad you could come" Said the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, as he walked through a door at the back of his office. I gave him my usual smile but he didn't return a smile. He didn't even have that little sparkle in his eyes that he usually had. He looked serious and if anything, sad!

"What happened?" Lily asked, leaning off her chair slightly.

"I'm afraid that there's been an attack." Dumbledore said. Attack! On who? Not Lily's parents, why else would he call us here. I held Lily's hand tightly. "On the Potters" I felt the bottom of my stomach fall, my heart leapt into my throat and I could hear my heartbeat. The Potters? My family? What? I turned to Dumbledore.

"What? Why? When?" I asked him, I had started to stand up slightly but he indicated for me to sit down.

"Please sit down, James. I will tell you what happened."

"Is mum and dad ok? What about Ellie?" I asked. Ellie was my older sister, she had finished Hogwarts two years ago. I knew that Sirius had the biggest crush on her before he actually realised that April was remotely amazing.

"Please, James." Dumbledore said patiently. Lily squeezed my hand tightly. I looked at her and sat back in my chair. I wanted to know what had happened, were my family ok.

"Professor?" Lily said calmly. She had met Ellie at Hogsmeade in April over Easter weekend. They got along instantly and had spent the whole time shopping. I could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm afraid that Matthew Potter and Andrea Potter have been killed by Voldemort." Dumbledore said slowly, like he himself didn't want to believe it. I couldn't reply to that. My parents were dead, they were killed by Voldemort. I sank deeper into my seat and closed my eyes. It wasn't real. Dumbledore was lying. My parents weren't dead. My hand was not losing feeling. I pulled my hand away from Lily and put them into my hair and tugged at it slightly.

"What about Ellie?" Lily asked, her voice was weaker then usual. She had also met my parents. We had all gone out to dinner with Ellie over the Easter weekend, my family had decided they were going to take a holiday. Lily had been very nervous but my entire family loved her. I remember my dad's words.

"Don't let go of her, she's something special" He had told me. I knew Lily really liked my parent's. She hadn't stopped talking about them for a few days after the dinner. Ad now they were dead! They couldn't be dead.

"Eleanor Potter? She's in St. Mungos. This is why I have called both of you here to tell you instead of James receiving a letter to inform him of his loss. Eleanor wants James to be at her side. The healers do not think she will be alive for much longer. She was very badly injured and the healers have done all they can. As you do not, and will not have any lessons for the next two weeks I am prepared to let you go and visit Eleanor in hospital. This would mean, however, that you will be required to choose someone to act as head boy in your absence." Dumbledore said to me. I took a deep breath as I looked at the old headmaster. Of course I wanted to go and see my sister. I needed to make sure she was ok. She was going to survive. Ellie was a fighter, she'd been attacked in seventh year by a group of Slytherins, she had survived a bout on Meningitis when she was younger, there wasn't any Magical cure for that, so she had been forced to endure months in a Muggle Hospital. She would survive, she had to survive.

"Can Lily come as well?" I asked Dumbledore.

"No, James, I can't she's your sister." Lily said, though I knew she wanted to go, she was just saying it.

"Of course, she will have to choose a head girl to act in her absence of course." I nodded. I looked at Lily and she gave me a sympathetic look.

"April Marsden" Lily said.

"I thought as much" Dumbledore said, "James?"

"Sirius." I told him. Dumbledore nodded. "If you two would like to get up, I will send you to St. Mungos." He said. I got up slowly. I didn't want to go but I did. If I saw Ellie would it make it more real that my parents were dead. They couldn't be dead. No, no! I was trying to convince myself but I knew that it wouldn't work. Dumbledore made a portkey using an old Kettle that he pulled out of a drawer in his desk and put it on the corner of the desk. Lily looked at me and gave me a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry." She muttered into my robes. I put my arms around her shakily and trusted her to help me stand. My legs felt like Jelly, I didn't know if I could cope with a journey by portkey.

"Lily, James. Floor four, ward eighteen." Dumbledore said patiently. Lily looked at me and took my hand. She slowly put it on the kettle and we both disappeared from the office. I felt that annoying tug at my navel and we stumbled to a stop in the lobby of St. Mungos. There were so many people in the lobby with many different symptoms. We got a few strange looks from people in the lobby. They looked at our uniforms and then our head student badges before wondering.

"Where did he say that Ellie was?" I asked Lily. Nothing seemed to have gone in. I wasn't paying attention. I had to rely on Lily. She didn't look like she was completely alert either but she looked better then I did.

"Floor four, ward eighteen." She said quietly. I rushed off towards the steps and ran up the steps, three at a time to get to floor four. Lily was following closely behind but she just wasn't as fast as I was. I ran down the corridors. I needed to make sure my sister was ok. She had to be ok. Even if my parents really were dead my sister had to be alive. She had to. I wiped a tear from my eyes and counted the wards. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. I pushed the door open and ran in. The beds didn't really have any curtains around them and I quickly spotted my sister lying in a bed. She was in a bed near the window at the far side of the room. Her long black hair was spread over the pillow and she had a few bandages covering wounds on her head and her arms were bandaged. I ran to her bed and skid to a stop. Her eyes were closed and it looked like her breathing was laboured.

"Ellie?" I asked anxiously. She turned her head slightly and opened her eyes.

"James?" She asked. 

"Ellie, are you ok?" I asked her as I went to the head of the bed. She grimaced as she tried to get up but let herself drop back onto the bed when she put some weight on her arms.

"I'm fine." She said weakly. She just lay in the bed and looked at me. "I'm glad you're here" I put a hand over her hand and held it gently.

"You're my sister. Of course I'd be here." I said, holy Merlin she was in such bad shape. Her skin was red, it looked like it was burnt, I could see the blood through the bandages as the soaked up the disgusting red liquid. I tried to control a sob that was rising in my throat as I brushed a lock of hair out of Ellie's face.

"What happened to mum and dad?" Ellie asked. I bit my lip and let a few more tears escape my eyes.

"They're-they're dead." I said slowly. Ellie closed her eyes and looked away.

"James." Lily said breathlessly as she came up to me and put a hand on my arm. "Oh, God Ellie!" Lily asked her. Ellie didn't move. I think she was trying to do what I had been doing, deny our parents death. I saw a tear fall at the corner of her eyes as she stared at the wall with the window. Lily looked at me and Ellie.

"I really don't think I should be here." Lily said, "I mean, I'm not part of your family" Lily said as she took a step away. Ellie reached out and got hold of Lily's hand. I could tell it pained her to do so as she winced in pain as she held Lily's hand.

"No. Stay." She said. Lily nodded slowly and looked at me as I slumped into a chair.

"Can I get you anything?" Lily asked Ellie, the question was also, indirectly aimed at me.

"No." Ellie said. Lily looked at me and I shook my head. Lily nodded and sat in a seat on the other side of Ellie's bed. Ellie turned to me. "Mum and dad are really-" I nodded slowly, I really didn't want to admit it. What was I going to do without my parents? What could I do without any of my family. If Dumbledore was in fact correct and Ellie would die soon- No, the thought was just too depressing. I wasn't going to lose my sister, I couldn't. She'd been by my side when I took my first flight on a broom. She had helped me refine my chaser skills. She helped me change my ways to get Lily. I took Ellie's hand again and she gave my hand a slight squeezed.

"You'll be ok." I said to her. "I promise you'll be ok." I looked at Lily, who looked like she didn't want to be here, purely because this was a family thing and she wasn't a Potter, well not yet but if things went to plan in a few years she would be.

"James, I know I'm dying." Ellie said, turning to look at me. Her eyes were slightly lighter then mine and they looked so serious and so scared. "Don't try and make it seem like I'm going to live. I know-"

"No, James is right." Lily said suddenly. "You'll be ok." Ellie and I both looked at her. "You have to be alright." She said in a weaker voice. Ellie gave her a strained smile.

*     *     *     *     *

I sat by Ellie's bed and stared out of the window that was on the wall. I could see Muggle London from here. The bustling streets and busy roads. Muggles were really amazing they had managed to think of so many ways to get along without magic. No wonder my dad had a slight fascination with them.

"James." Ellie said. I turned to look at her.

"Ellie." I replied.

"I want to talk to you while Lily's not here." I nodded. Lily had gone to get us something to eat. We'd already received some clothes from Hogwarts so we weren't in our uniforms, not that I complained, it was quite comfortable but I felt slightly better in my own clothes. We'd been here for a night already and Ellie seemed to be getting worse. Her breathing was becoming more strained and she seemed to cry a lot. I had cried quite a bit too. I knew it freaked out Lily. I hadn't seen Lily cry but every time she looked like she was going to she disappeared for a while.

"What about?" I asked Ellie.

"Before you came, I changed the wills. You're going to get everything that belonged to our family" She said. I nodded slowly. I knew, after what could be my last fight with my sister, that it was useless to convince ourselves she was going to live. She had given into the fact she was going to die and as much as I knew she didn't want to die she had accepted it silently.

"Ok." I said quietly. I didn't want to hear this.

"And I want you to be happy ok! After I die, I don't want you to mourn for my death, ok. James, promise me you'll get on with your life." Ellie said as sternly as she could. I nodded slowly. "And Mum wanted me to give you this. She actually gave it to me when the deatheaters came, she seemed to know that I was going to live. Hold your hand out." I did as she told and Ellie dropped a small ring into my hand. I looked at it. A small white gold ring with a few diamonds set into it. This was Ellie's ring, she wore it on her fourth finger, her wedding finger. Ellie did the same kind of thing that Lily did, she wouldn't sleep with anyone until someone replaced that ring. It had been out mum's old engagement ring.

"This isn't mum's it's yours" I said to Ellie.

"Yeah but mum told me what she wanted me to do with it." Ellie said. I looked at her, I had been trying to avoid her eyes but I couldn't help it. I needed to look at Ellie. "Give it to Lily. When you propose to her, give her that ring." Ellie said.

"How did you know that I would-"

"James it's obvious. You're in love with the girl. You told me in a letter once that you thought she was the girl you were going to spend the rest of your life with. Well I told mum and dad and they've said they agree with it, well they did before they-" Ellie coughed and winced. "Ow, but yeah, they agree with it and I want you to give that ring to Lily when you propose."

"Ellie I can't. It's your ring." I said, putting it back into her hand.

"James! I'm not going to need it after the next few days. I'm dying for crying out loud, I'm not going to need a fucking ring when I'm dead" She snapped. I nodded, suddenly scared by my sister. "Just take it. Look after it and give it to Lily when you ask the question." She said slightly gentler. I nodded and took the ring back. I put it carefully into my pocket and took my sister's hand again. I didn't want to lose her.

"Ellie, please don't die." I said. I was like a young boy again. I couldn't do anything to help and it was killing me inside. I needed to be able to help, I needed to something. I felt a tear falling down my cheek. I cry too much for a boy, I shouldn't be crying.

"I suppose one good thing will come out of dying" Ellie said. I looked at her curiously.

"What's that?" I asked her. Ellie smiled.

"I'll be with Danny again" she said, referring to her fiancé who had died three months ago. I hadn't been told about it until after his funeral, I never really liked him much, he had been a Ravenclaw while at Hogwarts but he made my sister happy and I guess that was something I didn't mind. He had been killed in a deatheater attack on Diagon Alley the day after he proposed to my sister. It must have been awful for her, I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain she must have been through.

"I suppose" I muttered. 

"And I'll be with Mum and dad" She said wistfully

"Say hi for me" I said with a slight smile. Ellie looked at me and smiled

"Remember when we were younger, when we lived in Wales. When you and Sirius got stuck on the roof?" Ellie asked with a smile. I smiled as I remembered. I was eight at the time and Sirius and I were playing hide and seek with Ellie and somehow, we're still not entirely sure to this day how we managed it, we got stuck on the roof of our house and waited up there until Ellie got impatient of us coming to find her.

"Yeah I remember." I said. "You saved our necks. If mum and dad found out that Padfoot and I got stuck up there."

"I know. You weren't supposed t be up there, really dangerous." Ellie said with a laugh. "I still can't believe you managed to turn into an Animagi. You, your head is as thick as a brick wall." I laughed at that and nodded my agreement. "Well at least you have Lily now." I sighed and looked at Ellie.

"Why are we talking about this kind of thing?" I asked her. Ellie scowled and turned towards me.

"I'm reliving my life. I think I'm dying now." Ellie said.

"What? No, you can't." I said standing up. But Ellie was right, she closed her eyes and her face screwed up.

"I don't want to die." Ellie said to me. "James, I don't want to."

"Fight it,"

"You can't fight death James." Ellie said, she held my hand even tighter and she opened her eyes, they were full of tears. "You know I love you right? Even if I've told you hundreds of times I hate you."

"I know and I love you to Ellie, you can't die" James said.

"Sorry. Good luck" Ellie managed to say before her chest stopped rising. I stared at her wide eyed.

"Ellie!" I shouted. I shook her with my free hand. "ELLIE!" She didn't respond. "Shit, Ellie, no. What am I going to do without you and mum and dad. Ellie!" It was no use. She wouldn't wake up. I couldn't wake her up. She wasn't dead. She wasn't dead. No, she wasn't-

"What's happened?" asked a nurse as she ran up to the bed. She looked at Ellie and took her other arm. She quickly unravelled the bandage to show red, burnt skin. She pressed her fingers against Ellie's wrist. I stared at her, my heart thumping. My sister wasn't dead. She wasn't dead. The nurse looked at the bed and lowered Ellie's arm. No, no, don't say it, please don't say it.

"I'm sorry." The nurse said to me.

"No!" I shouted. I pulled my hand free of the grip of Ellie's dead hand. "No" I took a few steps backwards.

"I'm very sorry Mr. Potter. Your sister is dead." The nurse said. I put my hands to my ears. 

"No, she's not!" I shouted at her. I left the ward and looked around. Where was Lily? There, at the doors there. She looked at me. She had a cup of some hot drink in her hand and she was glancing through the windows in the doors of the wards.

"Lily!" I shouted as I ran to her. Lily looked at me and must have guessed what had happened. She dropped the coffee in shock.

"She, Ellie's alright isn't she?" Lily asked. I pulled her into a tight hold. "James." She said.

"She's-she just-" I couldn't finish my sentence. I felt Lily hold me tighter. I shouldn't be the one falling apart. No, I had to stay strong, like Lily. I felt something damp through my shirt and knew that Lily was crying. Her body shook slightly and I held her tighter. I could feel my own tears coming to my eyes. She just held each other in the corridor of the hospital crying. I didn't care who saw my sister had just died! I'd lost all my family, I didn't have one anymore. Merlin! I didn't have a family anymore. I let go of Lily as this thought sunk in and I sat in a bench that was a little way off.

"James" Lily asked hesitantly. Her eyes were slightly red, despite only meeting my sister a few times they had grown quite close.

"I don't have any family" I said quietly, "I don't have any family" Lily came to me and sat on my lap. She wrapped her arms around me and seemed to cradle me slightly, pulling me closer to her. I put my arms around her waist and held her tightly. She kissed my forehead as I put my head on her shoulder.

"I'll give you a family." She whispered between two sobs. "When we leave school. I promise you James." I was too shocked to even respond to that.

"I don't want you to mourn for my death, ok" I heard Ellie's voice in the back of my head. I forced the tears to stop and I looked at Lily. She was looking straight back at me. Her face just full of sadness and loss, like mine, presumably. She hadn't lost much compared to me but she knew what it was like to lose a sister, even if her sister wasn't dead. I just looked at Lily, it wasn't the way I normally looked at her, it was completely different, I still loved her, I still wanted her but I guess the way I saw her now was how my dad saw my mum. I knew I could wait, I knew that I wanted to marry her, I knew everything was going to be alright. I gave her a weak smile and she kissed my forehead again.

"I love you James. Ellie loved you to and so did your parents." She said, "I really don't know what else to say." She muttered as she fumbled with her words. "But, I-I'll try and help you get through this."

"Just stay with me." I said, "That's all I need." She nodded and pulled me into a quick kiss. I immediately felt calmer. Isn't it strange. You've just lost your family, the people who've brought you up, let you live, helped you to survive and something as simple as a kiss can help you feel better. The sadness just drains away and you know that everything will be alright. I felt Lily relax slightly in my arms and I guessed she must have felt the same. She stood up and took my hand.

"I want to see Ellie before we go back to school" Lily said quietly as I stood up. I took a deep breath and nodded. I wanted to see Ellie as well. Just to know that she was happy while dead. I had to avenge my parent's death, my sister's death. I think that's when my career choice was decided. I'd always debated on what I wanted to do. Should I be a healer, work with creatures, make potions. No. I knew now. I was going to become an auror. I wanted to fight the people who'd done this to my family. I wanted to prevent this from happening to other families. We walked into the suddenly very quiet, very sullen ward. Curtains had been drawn around my sister's bed and Lily walked through them hesitantly. She was breathing quite quickly and stopped when she saw Ellie. I looked at Ellie's face. She looked quite happy dead, her face was peaceful and had this sort of innocent happiness on it. Like when a six year old kid goes to sleep just before Christmas. Lily put her arms around me and I put an arm around her and the other into my pocket. I fingered the ring in my pocket fondly and nervously.

"Lily." I said to her. I wanted one of my family members present when I did this, dead or alive. Lily turned to me, she looked like she was going to cry again.

"James?" She asked. I took her left hand and carefully put the ring on her fourth finger.

"Look after it." I said to her. She nodded and pulled me closer to her.

A/N:-Hope you liked that. That's the end of the story, a bit depressing I know but hey, at least it wasn't James and Lily dying at the end right?


End file.
